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I used to have a cool blue heeler
a few years back. He was a "frosty", a white heeler with
blue spots. He was a great dog. He personally took it upon himself
to look after our boys. He went with us EVERYWHERE. His name was
Nick. Nick was devoted to the hilt.
As with all blue heelers, every time you go out on a horse, they gotta go. One day as I was long trotting my horse, I could see Nick way up ahead of us, lavishly rolling in something. When I got there, I was dismayed to find it was the ripe, heat bloated, sun-baked, carcass of a deer. Nick was completely covered with the green, rotted stuff---still merrily rolling---happy as a pig in a mud hole! I called him off---though it was way too late. As I continued long trotting, I set in to scolding him, telling him if he thought he was coming in the house---he had another thought coming! You know how we do. We talk to em as if they understand every word. He might not have understood everything I was saying, but he KNEW he was in trouble! I went on telling him how he was gonna get hosed down in the back yard and THEN submit to a full-blown bath before he was EVER stepping one foot inside the house! Right
in the middle of my "sanctified scolding"---God began
speaking to me. He proceeded to tell me, that I do the same thing
my dog does! "Well"---I'm thinking---"I beg to differ"!
(You know how we get righteously indignant in our own defense.)
God went on to say, "You roll in dead flesh all the time and
then expect to come immediately into My Presence. You lavishly dive
into gossip---indulge in an offense you have towards someone---wallow
in your own self-pity---etc. etc. Then you come to church carrying
the stench from all the "dead flesh" that you enjoy being
covered in, feeling NO NEED for repentance and expecting Me to just
embrace you with open arms! Need I say more?" By the time God got through with me, I was looking pretty much just like Nick was during his bath in the back yard---kinda pitiful looking, with my ears hanging really flat and low. But no matter how uncomfortable the bath is---it's WELL WORTH IT---for the privilege of being welcomed back into the Presence of God! Sometimes God's corrections can feel much like getting hit with the cold, spring water from a water hose---harsh, cold, offensive and humiliating. But no matter how uncomfortable it is---hunker down and take it, cause it's the only way to get the "stink" off and be welcomed back inside His Presence! |
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