It's 5:30 AM and I am up for the day. No, I am not a farmer or fisherman. I don't have a job to go to. No, there is no reason for me to be up so early except for the fact that my Basset Hound puppy needed me. He hurt his arm (I know dogs don't have arms), last week and its still bothering him, so he has been sleeping in his travel kennel in our bedroom, beside my bed, instead of in my bed. We put him there so that he wouldn't jump off the bed and re-injure his arm. At 5:00 AM this morning he decided he had had enough of this sleeping arrangement, and started to whimper and cry to get my attention. So I got up and let him outside to relieve himself. He promptly did and came back inside. I put him back in his kennel and laid myself back in bed. That lasted about two minutes and he was crying again. I took pity on him and let him out of his kennel and resigned myself to the fact that my sleeping was over for the day.
It's 5:30 AM and while I am sitting on the living room couch, writing this, curled up beside me, sound asleep, I might add, is Duke. Every few minutes he groans a contented groan and sighs in his sleep. He's happy. He feels me near him and he's contented. Oh, I know some of you are probably thinking that you'd just put him back in his kennel to sleep. I've tried that before and it doesn't work. He wants to be near me, not alone in his kennel. So while this sleepy puppy would be wide awake in his kennel, next to me he will sleep. He's happy and I'm sleepy but that's okay.
It's okay because I love him and I'm glad he wants to be near me. I'm glad that when he is hurting or scared or just happy he wants my companionship. So even at 5:30 AM I still love him.
We can learn a lot from a dog. They give their whole heart to their owner. They don't hold any part of it back. They don't hold grudges or stay angry. They are quick to forgive and eager to make you happy. They're faithful to their owner and while they may go for a short time with someone else, if their owner asks them too, they will spend the whole time away from their owner, longing for them and looking for their return.
They love us unconditionally and I believe God gave us dogs so that we would understand what unconditional love was. He gave us dogs so we would be reminded that pure love is something that is real. He created dogs to be our companions and since all of creation reflects the Creator, He wants to be our Companion too. He wants us to learn from His creation that He loves us unconditionally. He loves us even when we are unloveable. He loves us with an everlasting love. He longs for us when we are away from Him and He is happy when we are close by His side. God loves us.
So the next time you look at a dog remember that God loves you with an unconditional, everlasting love and He just might be trying to tell you that through a dog.
Jeremiah 31:3 "I have loved you with an everlasting love."
Post a Comment