If you’ve been reading my columns for awhile, you know that my dog, Winston, is serving a life sentence for unashamedly harassing neighborhood chickens, rabbits and a horse. He’s doing his time in a fenced-in acre of our backyard and I want you to know that he seems to be coping quite well with his incarceration.
He has squirrels to chase, sunshine to bask in, access to the comforts inside our house, plenty of food and water, and from time to time, opportunities to walk with me on the path around the wooded acres of our little neighborhood.
It was on one of these walks recently that I learned a few spiritual lessons from my dog. It’s hard to fathom that Winston could serve as a good example of how to live life, but on this day, he did. Inspiration can indeed come from the most unlikely places.
Here are a few things I observed and learned on our walk…
First, I was amazed that Winston remembered the path. Because the weather had been wet and the path had been too muddy to walk on, it had been several months since I’d taken my pup out for a spin. Also, it’s not always easy to tell where the “beaten path” is through our woods because there aren’t very many people out here to “beat it.” With trees having fallen across it and layers of leaves piled up, it’s sometimes hard to tell where to walk.
But somehow, Winston knew. This dog, who always seems a few cards shy of a full deck, never seemed confused about where to go. He navigated the path like he had a built-in homing device or like some invisible guide up ahead was showing him exactly where to walk.
Winston reminded me that Jesus said His true followers walk a “narrow way.” Those of us traveling that path sometimes look ahead and wonder how we will ever find our way through the thick woods. But it seems God has given us an internal “compass” to get us home. That compass is called the Holy Spirit, and He is always with us to show us exactly where to go if we have ears to hear His quiet voice and humble hearts inclined to follow Him.
My second lesson on our walk came as I observed that Winston’s favorite thing in life (at least now that he’s been neutered) is to smell stuff. He is a sniffing maniac. I guess he has pretty much become used to all the smells in his fenced-in kingdom, but when he is walking on the path, a veritable smorgasbord of new smells opens up to him and my dog can hardly contain himself as he strains to sniff everything along the way.
Winston reminded me that there is more to learn about God and His ways than I can possibly absorb in a lifetime. God is everywhere – in His Word, in His people, in His world – and He is waving His arms and shouting, “Here I am – come and find Me!” I need to be passionate in that pursuit — as passionate as Winston sniffing his way through the woods. God wants us to sniff Him out – He’s anxious to be discovered by us.
“‘And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart,’” God says to us in Jeremiah 29:13. Let that one soak in and amaze you.
An inner voice keeping me on the right path and a passion to explore the depths of God – two of God’s most precious gifts to me. Thanks, Winston, for the reminder.