While on one acre
nestled in moderately dense suburbia, our dog, Otto, had very little
freedom. It was
limited to the house; even if he was allowed to roam the backyard, he would clear
the four-foot fence when one of our many squirrels caught his eye. He was only doing his job, since he is a Schnauzer
that is bred to take care of little rodents.
The hunting game was always cut short by the distractions of the freedom
in sight, as was true when the front door was left open and he would run.
He would run so
fast that his back legs appeared to reach the tip of his nose as he sped down
the road in a ball of dust. The kids had
to ride their bikes to fetch him. He
ran, oblivious to the dangers around him:
vehicles speeding, do-gooders calling the pound, larger dogs protecting
their territory and owners of little dogs threatening to call the police
because Otto liked to exert his dominance.
We would eventually find him. Strangers
would even help us at times. He seemed
to always get distracted by something else in the neighborhood and we could
grab him.
When we arrived
at the new homestead, the temptations to run came. He ran, explored, but came back. He even crossed the 65 mph highway once. Soon the bolting out the front door stopped,
and now his explorations are rarely out of site of the house. He
knows his territory and protects it, and now enjoys lounging on the front porch
in the sun. Now when Otto wants to play, it is not a game
of hide-and-seek with the anxiety of not knowing where he will decide to run,
but a pleasurable game of tag as he runs huge circles around the tagger. He prefers to be at my feet, walk with me to
the mailbox, and lay down near TJ as he studies. He responds to his name now, not perfect, but
we are getting there. Cats and ducklings
are a distraction, but he pays no heed to the chickens and there is one that
likes to follow him from time to time. A radical change in our puppy; he is like a
new dog.
As I noticed this radical change, I pondered a
little on child rearing and what can happen if the leash is too tight, but I predominately
thought about our relationship with our creator, our Master. Before knowing our redeemer we are in bondage
to our sin--it enslaves us. It controls us. We are always running to our pleasures:
entertainment, the next event, comforts of life, etc. We run to success, striving to achieve and
get lost in the busyness of life. We run
to power and control, wanting it all to go our way. But we are still trapped within the walls of
the house, never getting out though we run.
In Christ we are free. Since Christ has set us free, we shall be
free indeed. Because of his death in our
stead and his resurrection we have been freed from the bondage of sin and
death. When one becomes a Christian, he loses
that desire to run, though the temptation is always there and he fails at times. But he is no longer on the leash with sin holding
on the other end. Christ broke the leash because of his own mere pleasure and grabbed us.
With that freedom a peace and contentment comes and a desire to sit at
the Master’s side. No longer a running
to hide from Him in worldly pleasures but to be with Him, respond to His voice
and please Him.
There are times
when the Christian gets distracted by the things of the world and ventures to
far, as Martha, who got consumed with the cares of the world. But his desire is that of Mary’s, to sit at
his Master’s feet, to listen and to please.
With Otto’s freedom came that same desire, and so it is with our freedom
in Christ, a desire to be with Him and no longer run.
