Come Running

We have a sweet, and sometimes not-so-sweet, little dog named Marlie. We got her before the movie “Marley & Me” ever hit the big screen, however, there have been times that I could completely identify with the family in the movie. It’s almost as if the name is a curse! Really though, we picked that name for her because it means “wished for” and my girls and I had wished for a dog for a long time, it just took a while to wear Daddy down!

It’s so funny how she just fits right in with our family and knows our routines so well. If I am in the kitchen, no matter where she is, her ears are perked and she is eager for the slightest hint of her name being called or the sound of a crumb hitting the kitchen floor. I am, by my own admittance, not the neatest cook. I like to cook and I like to bake, but I always make a mess and something always drips or drops onto the floor somewhere along the way. That little pooch is at the ready for me to call her if there is some little something on the floor that she can have and believe you me, you only have to say her name once and she comes running. Usually I don’t even have to stop what I’m doing to show her where it is, just the slightest nod of my head in the direction of her prized jewel and she zones in and comes in for the kill!

I wonder how many times God has to call my name or your name before our ears perk up to His voice? Often I don’t listen the first time, sometimes even the fifth time. What’s even worse than that is I don’t always come running. I lollygag around and get there in my own time so that I can do what “I” want to do along the way. If I get to what He wants fine, and if I don’t, well, maybe I’m not sure it was Him, or so I tell myself to justify my disobedience.

Now most of us know that dogs don’t speak English, sorry if this is the first that some of you have heard of that, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but speaking the truth in love, I’m must tell you they don’t! Since they don’t speak our language, it amazes me more that little Marlie can interpret my head nods in the direction of the tasty morsel that awaits her. How many times have I whined that I don’t know what God wants from me, that I can’t sense His direction? Have you done the same? If I don’t came running at the hint of my name or at the sound of a mere crumb falling from His table, how will I ever be in the position to see which direction His head nods? I wonder how many crumbs I have left along the way. I fear that there have been many.

In Mark 9, after the Transfiguration, Jesus came back to join the rest of the disciples and noticed a large crowd gathered around arguing with them. Verse 15 says that immediately when the entire crowd saw Him, they began running up to greet Him. One of the people in the crowd approached Jesus and asked Him to heal his son. The man said to Jesus “But if you can do anything”. IF – little word big meaning. I think it is no coincidence that this is the same chapter where Jesus is quoted to say “All things are possible to him who believes.” Then, as if with a Divine nod of His head, the boy was healed.

Those people immediately came running eager to see what He had to say, and I must do the same. If that father had not come running, his son may have never been made whole. When I believe in Him and his abilities, I know that I can move forth in which ever direction He nods His head and follow His direction without fear. Whatever morsels fall from His table in my direction are just bonus.



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