“ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
I love my dogs. Teddy is a laid back twelve-year old Bichon Frise and Bella is a sweet and spicy five-year old West Highland terrier. As anyone with dogs can tell you, dogs are social animals that were designed to live in community. Puppies try to determine their position in the social pecking order from the moment that you bring the little fluff balls into your home. I’m not a dog trainer, but I do know that it is important to show puppies right away that they are not the alpha dog or you are headed for trouble. I try to give each dog the same amount of attention and love, but my kids will tell you that I have a little softer spot in my heart for Bella. If I am home Bella is always close by.
It’s funny to watch our cute little Westie constantly “remind” our older and bigger Bichon that she is the boss of him despite our constant admonitions for her to be nice to Teddy. The other day I gave each of the dogs a new rawhide bone and was soon reminded of a lesson from the Scriptures. In the time that it took to put the bag of rawhides away in the pantry Bella had doubled her reward by stealing Teddy’s rawhide. Bella could barely hold both bones in her little mouth and struggled to walk without dropping them.
Isn’t it amazing how fast a sense of ownership sets in when we receive a blessing from the hand of God? Just like my dog, how often have I hoarded blessings in my life and acted like I deserve or own them? Why do we worry and focus on the immediate blessing and forget that our Master has a huge pantry full of future “rawhides?”
Dear Lord, forgive me when I fail to be satisfied with your daily provision. Please help me to remember that you alone own everything and to hold the “rawhides” that you have given me loosely. Help me to remember that you have promised to never leave me or forsake me and to be more interested in the Blesser than the blessings.
Manna and Coffee 