Walking the Dog

This is a transcription of a voice entry

I made an interesting observation as I’m walking Holly (my dog), in relating it to a relationship with Christ, in that she tries to sprint ahead of me and I need to correct her, and I get to a point where I need to stop in order for her to settle down and stop and wait for my guidance and direction.

It’s like how I want to sprint ahead with my own pursuits when Christ might be stopped behind me and I need to go back and look for Him in order to determine what the proper path is for me.

I correct with verbal cues and a tug on the leash. One of the other things is that when Holly sees a rabbit, she wants to spring off, like how when I pursue something other than Christ, I lose sight (and all sense) of Him – He may be stopped and I might be chasing a rabbit. It’s also interesting that when I correct her and I stop, that even once she’s calmed down and we start walking again, she’s still looking for that rabbit, even though it’s no longer visible to us, she still wants to chase after it anyway.

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Follow up voice entry:
The other observation I had was that in training Holly, I feel a need to ensure that she will follow my guidance and direction in first sitting and staying still (waiting for me), and then if she will follow me and let me guide her in walking before I start trying to run with her, because if she can’t behave and walk straight beside me while walking, what will she do if I’m running? She could cut me off, she could pull me in another direction, and it’s a lot more dangerous for me with her running if she’s not being obedient to me, than it is if I’m walking.

So does Christ wait for me to stand still and wait for me to come to Him and then once I’m with Him, does He start by walking with me. As He sees that I don’t sprint ahead or easily distracted then He’ll start running with me? I think that’s the case.