I got delivery of my new black lab last night and he is a handful. So much so that though I initially dubbed him Stormy, I am contemplating changing that name to Tornado. It has been a while since I owned a young dog. Our last dog Cooper was 13 when he passed, and he was very laid back. My previous lab was also 13 when he passed and was laid back as they come. This 3-month-old dog is akin to a hurricane and is wild as a stallion.
I thought I would allow him in the house until we bond, but the heck with that.
He tore through that house jumping on furniture, slipping and sliding, and turning stuff over (like his water bowl) and just having a good old time. This pup chewed every toy I had bought for him even to include his canvas bumper until they were destroyed. It only took minutes.
At first light he is going to the outside kennel, and we can “bond” when I take him for walks. It is interesting when I was thinking of getting another lab, I thought of my last one, Bear, who was superbly trained and was almost human. He was relaxed and did more yawning in his last days than he did walking around. When I was thinking about buying a pup, I thought of getting a puppy in that light. I tend to think of this pup in terms of being fully trained and I barely recall that old Bear was a handful as a pup too. I just remember him as that great companion and hunting partner and a valued member of our family, and I can barely remember his wild puppy days. Like old Cooper I was devastated when they had to be put down.
Bear still made a few mistakes when he got some age on him, but by and large he was a great dog. I was thinking that perhaps God might think of us similarly. I was wild and reckless as a pup, but now that I’m old and settled, those chaotic memories seem distant to me. Importantly I feel Jesus doesn’t dwell on my puppy mistakes either. I do know God much prefers me like I am today than when I was a tornado, and he patiently worked out the kinks taking years to get me to this point which is far from where we both want me to be. And this is not to say that he didn’t discipline me along the way when I made a mess of things; it is to say that he shaped me into the person He wanted me to be through His unconditional love.
My lab Bear was never a perfect dog. He knew better than to do some things but sometimes temptation got the better of him and he did them anyway, knowing full well there would be a price to pay. The most egregious example was at a local park when he spied some fat semi-tame ducks lazily swimming around wanting someone to throw some bread to them for a free meal. He looked up eagerly at me and I told him, “NO!”
He looked longingly at those fat ducks, and then back up at me, and then back at them, and I could almost read his mind. I warned him, – Don’t you do it! But suddenly he took off like the hounds of hell were chasing him. He came back in minutes with one of those ducks squirming around in his mouth. He had his ears laid back and appeared to be smiling. I feel sure he was hoping that his peace offering would mend the fences. Fortunately, he had a very soft mouth on the retrieve, and I was able to release the duck unharmed (aside from its damaged pride as it loudly protested by quacking up a storm. I could not help but laugh and I tried to admonish him by calling him a bad dog through my laughter. Ordinarily I would have swatted him about the head for disobeying, but he was too funny.
Of course, sin is a far more serious thing with God as evidenced by Jesus having to make the supreme sacrifice. I do know that He understands our temptations, having gone through the worst temptation ever proffered by Satan while holding firm. But I know that all my sins were forgiven when I accepted Christ as my Savior! At any rate I’m glad I’m out of the puppy stage and am maturing some as a Christian. Like old Bear I still make mistakes but not as many as I once did. As I mentioned, I think God likes me better now. The following verse reinforces this notion . . .
Hebrews 8:12
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”