Ryan and I had walked out to the pecan grove to decide where to put my greenhouse (the one I want but don't have yet). Bill the Magnificent was with us to discuss which fence to move and how to protect the greenhouse from curious cows. Once that was sorted out, Ryan and I went back to the house to start taking down the Christmas decorations, and Bill headed back to the barn.
When we returned to the house, Maggie the Wonder Dog was barking up a storm. She did not like being left behind! She came out to the porch where we had paused to talk with a neighbor who stopped by to visit a minute. Suddenly, her little eleven-pound body froze and her head popped up. I looked up to see what had caught her attention. Bill had let the horses out and they were running in circles like crazy. Maggie the Wonder Dog does not allow the horses in the pecan grove, and she was off like a shot to herd them into the barn, barking all the way.
She raced around while we rearranged the storage house and moved the decoration boxes back in place. Hot, tired, and dirty, we headed back to the house, but Maggie wanted all the outside time she could get. She played until dark. She usually barks when she's ready to come in, I open the door, and in she comes. Quick and easy.
This evening, I looked out and she was as dirty as could be. Muddy Miss Maggie needed a serious scrubbing. I made the mistake of telling her she would have to have a bath when she came in. Maggie the Wonder Dog does not prefer baths. She knows that four-letter word and tries to avoid it at all costs. Tonight, she had a terrible delimma. She was hungry, tired, and wanted to snuggle, but she didn't want a bath. Coming inside was the only way to have what she wanted, but it meant she would have to have a bath, too. Her solution was to bark, as if that might somehow change the inevitable. She barked and barked and barked. I was just about wacko from all the barking.
Finally, Ryan gave it a try. He had a few techniques that were new and very interesting, but equally ineffective. At last, I decided to try one more thing. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before! I stepped outside and Maggie immediately headed into the yard. "Mom, that is totally not helping! She's running away worse than ever!" Ryan groaned. What he and Maggie didn't realize was that I wasn't going after Maggie. I was going to sit in our patio snuggle chair. About the time I sat down, Maggie jumped from the edge of the patio into my lap and snuggled into my arms. She was worn out from resisting so long, but she still had to have what she didn't want (the bath) to get what she did want (food, water, and snuggles).
Tonight, Maggie reminded me an awful lot of myself. Before I came to Jesus, it was really clear I needed a spiritual bath (cleansing) but I didn't want to give up anything I was doing. Relationship with Jesus was attractive, but the price wasn't (repentance, cleansing, transformation), so I made a terrible uproar while I tried to resist. Eventually, I needed Jesus so much that I was willing to accept whatever change He wanted, but it took a while to get there. What a silly waste of time all that delay and fuss was!
If there are some things in your life that need to change, but you have been resisting, maybe it's time to reconsider. Why not jump into the open arms of Jesus and let Him do what needs to be done? You'll be pleasantly surprised by how good a clean heart feels, and relationship with Jesus? It's worth anything.
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