Understanding Takes Time

I had been without a dog around the house for years and insisted that if I do get another dog it would be one off the street or from a shelter. I just decided I didn’t need the hassle of potty training and the chewing up of everything in sight while cutting teeth. But I have to tell you my wife and I are so happy seeing our Chihuahua grow and mature over the past nine months. She came to our home a two pound dynamo power-puff of fur that had to be caged and taught how to control herself. Like I’ve said before, it’s like raising another child at an accelerated rate. She came into heat about eight weeks ago and everything changed. She became mopey, irritable and disagreeable. She would eat like a horse a few days and then wouldn’t eat a bit for days. She would be active as a hamster one day and hibernate the next. I was constantly worried something was wrong with her but the internet assured me all this was normal. I know one thing; I’m not doing this every six or eight months. So off to the vet we went; snip, snip, tie, tie, no puppies and no more cycles to deal with. Two weeks later I have a new dog. She’s obedient and has a renewed spirit of puppy-ism. Now that’s what I’m talking about and I’m glad I got her as a puppy. At four and one half pounds she’s a lot of fun.

As children grow and mature they don’t always get everything they’ve learned exactly right. * Billy and his father entered the cabin late in the evening on their first day of vacation, leaving the lights off until they were completely inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies managed to get in. Noticing them Billy exclaimed, “It’s no use dad. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights!” * A second grader came home from school and said to her mother, “Guess what? We learned how to make babies today!” Mother, more than a little surprised, trying to keep her cool, “That’s interesting,” she said, “how do you make babies?” “It’s simple,” replied the youngster. “You just change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘es’.” * After putting her visiting grandchildren to bed, grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse then proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into the bedroom, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say in a trembling voice, “Who was that?”

[Romans 6:3-4 & 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:17-5:21] “…all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death …buried with him …in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead …we too may live a new life. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! …offer your bodies as living sacrifices …Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Most people in this world will at some time wrestle with themselves over their physical and spiritual well-being, wondering how they fit together or even if they could, or should. Too many attempt to solve this by adjusting their environment, generally by changing their geo-location, advancing their education, changing jobs, drugs, alcohol, etc. I can stand up and testify, one cannot settle a restless spirit by working on it physically. It is only through the Word of God, feeding the spirit nutritional truths, does real growth occur. Don’t give up on God. Spiritual maturity and understanding takes disciplined time.