My dogs are spoiled

My dogs are spoiled, rotten brats! At least that's what they seem like to me. They behave like selfish children, (maybe that's why one of our elder's wives is a dog-hater, ). My dogs jump up on your lap at the worst times, they are rude to guests, and may even steal food if they think they can get away with it. Yet, I love them.

Yesterday, Deniese and I were outside in the front yard planting flowers. Deniese had several yards of screened loam delivered, and I was doing my part in hauling wheel barrows full of the stuff to wherever she needed it. While we were out there, the poor little barkers were left in the house. Now, our little dogs love Deniese. When she was in front of the house, they would sit behind the screen door and whine at her to let them out. When she went to the left side of the house, they would run out the back and line up along the fence trying to attract her attention and hoping she would open the gate (which she almost never does) and the same on the right side of the house. What do the little dogs want? Do they want to be with Deniese? Well, sorta. What they really want is to sleep, and they want Deniese to come inside and sit down in her chair somewhere so they can sleep all around her. But Deniese was in the front yard and even though they have a house full of couches, chairs, rugs, carpeting, and beds, they won't wander off and sleep somewhere. If I let them out, they would run straight to Denise, make sure she is OK, and then run off chasing a car or a bike. They finally get that one thing that they want and they immediately want something else. They think they want Deniese, but once they get her they become dissatisfied. Are people like that?

Well, when Dave was small he had every toy in the universe. After all, he's an only kid, so he never had to share anything or get hand-me-down toys or even compete with siblings for dad's toy budget. Thus he had toys toys toys, but where did he want to be? The toy room? Nope, in the same room I was. Sometimes he would beg for weeks for a particular toy, badgering me to buy it, but once he got it he would play with it for a bit and then he would want something else. Just about any mom can vouch for that. Yes there are some toys that get a lot of use, but by and large kids want everything for a moment and nothing for an hour. Yet, we love them.

I was reminded of Amnon and Tamar, if you aren't familiar with the story the scriptures are on the front today but the gist is Amnon wants to sleep with Tamar so he ties to her, tricks her, rapes her, and then once he's had her he throws her out. That is so much the way it is with sin, isn't it? Sometimes we plan for it, we build it up in our minds on how great it is going to be, and we deceive people about it (including ourselves). Eventually we do it and we live for that pleasure of the moment, but then we feel shame and anger. Or we simply want something else.

Maybe you don't see the way these three are tied together, but there's something very much in common. Someone, selfish, wants something that once they get it they want something else instead. I can love my dogs, because they really don't know what they are doing. They know when they are bad, they even behave guilty, but hey - they're dogs! We can all love our children, even selfish ones, who don't feel guilt even when you point it out to them. But who loves Amnon? Who loves the selfish, nasty, slimy, disgusting rapist who seems to have no sense of goodness in him?

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

The love of God is awesome. And humbling.

Randy