You Can Learn A Lot From A Dog

Dogs are great teachers of some things we humans could learn from them. At the top of the list of these lessons is how to live joyfully regardless of circumstances.

Take, for instance, our girl, Rayah. Regardless of how she feels, she perks up at the sight of a ball in my or Karen’s hand. She will run top speed for ten to twenty yards to catch it on the first bounce. And, yes, she is that fast. She can outrun the ball in the air! Her intense attention is a marvel to behold.

This brings her great JOY! (Us too.) It will take precedence over virtually anything for her. And do not get in her way as she pursues a ball. If you do, you risk going down in a full-speed body slam because her attention is not on you but on the ball.

A ball does that? No. An instrument that enables her to experience her inner-most need for connection and gives her an opportunity to interact with Karen and me in a special way that deeply satisfies her does that. To us, it’s a round piece of rubber. To her, it is an object of great joy.

We go through the ritual at least a half-dozen times a day. She brings the ball, we go out, throw it multiple times, then she leads us on a walk around the field. She is a herding dog, and this is important to her too. FYI: I think Dutch Shepherds have a genetic connection with balls because everyone I know who has one experiences this ritual in some variation.

Do I understand this deep need? Not fully–but that does not stop me from learning from it and doing it because it brings her such joy. Sometimes, I would rather not … but I do anyway.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:9-11 NIV)

Jesus loves us in a way I cannot comprehend in my human understanding. Do I “get it”? No. That, however, does not stop me from appreciating it and learning from it. His love for me teaches me how to love Him. This brings me joy. Am I as joyful about that as Rayah is about a ball? Well … I’m learning; I’ll say that.

The more you interact with Jesus in His love for you, the more you will learn about His love. The more you learn, the easier it is to remain in His love and let it begin to influence everything you do, think, and feel. The more He pervades your life, the more joy you experience in Him and in His love for you. To ‘pervade‘ means to pass or spread through the whole extent of something or to be diffused throughout. This is how Jesus’ love should be in us.

Does the reality of Jesus and His love for you pervade your life? Real question: don’t blow it off. Really ask it. If you cannot truthfully say it does, then you should be honest with yourself as to what place He DOES hold in your life. If your answer is anything less than everything, you have work to do. And you have joy in learning. And you have to love to understand.

This is what it means to remain in His love. Not know about it, but KNOW IT. Then, the process He stated in today’s Scripture passage–keeping His commands–will be a joy and not a duty. You can become as eager for this as Rayah is for her ball play. At that point, your joy in Him can become complete.

Am I there? As I said, I’m learning. I understand more than I have at any other point in my life, and my joy in Him is becoming more and more full as I learn. I discover that the more I learn, the more I want it.

Will we ever be completely “there” in this life? I doubt this is fully possible in this limited life … but we can keep asking Him to throw the ball.