Rebel

                               

Dear Old Friend,

In my last letter I told you the story of how we got our dog, Quiz.  This time I want to tell you a bit more about what he is like, as background for a funny story.  From the very beginning we could tell that Quiz desired to understand what we wanted from him so that he could do it.  Because he had been homeless we weren’t certain whether he was completely housebroken. The rescue worker who brought him to us assured us that he was crate trained, and suggested that when we left the house we should put him in his crate because it would prevent accidents and would also give Quiz a sense of security. 

I was the person who left the house last each day, so I had the responsibility for putting him in the crate and to my relief he always came when I called and went straight in with no fuss.  One day, about a week after we got Quiz, I called him when it was time for me to leave, and to my amazement he was already in the crate! I told him he was such a good boy and gave him a biscuit.  The next day and the next, when it came time, he was already in place waiting for me to shut the crate door.  To this day I don’t know exactly what my “tell” was which signaled him that the moment had arrived, but he had watched me and learned my routine better than I had and he was so anxious to be good!

Imagine my surprise, then, when the Great Couch-Throw Tug of War began!  I had a knitted throw on the couch where I always sat and Quiz usually sat on the floor next to my feet.  Whenever I would put the throw over my legs, he would make a tent of the part that hung down and crawl in.  Soon I realized that he was twisting himself around in the “tent” in such a way that he was pulling it off my lap and trying to drag it onto the floor so that it was completely wrapped around him. I, of course, resisted this attempt and from time to time I spoke a stern “No!” as his tugging became more insistent. 

It seemed that, the more I tried to lay down the law regarding the throw, the more determined Quiz became in his efforts to obtain this coveted knitted treasure.  I would come in the room to find him sleeping on it after having dragged it off the couch when I wasn’t looking.  I tried tucking it into the cushions to keep him from getting it, but he somehow managed to pull it out.  I tried leaving it on the top of the sofa thinking it would be out of reach, but he apparently climbed up and retrieved it when my back was turned!  The battle raged for weeks.

I’m ashamed to admit that, in the end, I let him have the throw and bought myself a new one.  I’d like to think it was grace on my part, but it was mostly surrender.  By the way, he still pulls my new throw off the couch from time to time, just to show me he can. 

The thing that struck me the other day was that Quiz’s reaction to my telling him not to do something is a perfect example of how we react to the Law.   Remember in Romans 7 where Paul says that the sin in us “seizes the opportunity”, which a commandment provides, and makes us want to do the very thing we are told not to do?  (Take a look at verses 7-11)  The fact of the matter is, I’m just like Quiz!  Even though I want to be good, when somebody forbids me to do something, I frequently have a crazy rebellious attitude that rises up in me and says, “Oh yeah?  Just watch me!” I’m not proud of it, but it’s true. 

God says we're all that way. In fact, that very reaction is why we needed a Savior who would never rebel, would always do what God asked of him and would ultimately die so that God could forgive all of our crazy rebellions!  Thankfully, God’s response to us is always grace, not surrender!

Love Always,

Bonnie