SEPTEMBER 27, John 14:15

Dawn’s new puppy wriggled in her arms as she hugged him tight. “I’ll call him Duke!” she announced.

“Well, Duke has lots of things to learn,” commented Dad. “You’ll need to reward him when he’s good and spank him when he does something bad. That way he’ll learn what things he’s not supposed to do.”

Dawn frowned. “He won’t be bad, Dad. I’ll love him so much that he’ll want to be good. You’ll see. Duke will be the best dog in the world!”

But Duke was not a good puppy. He chewed on shoes and tables. He didn’t come when he was called. Dawn did scold and spank, but nothing seemed to help. “Why is Duke so bad?” Dawn asked sadly one day. “I scold him and scold him, and he acts like he’s sorry. He licks my face and wags his tail, so I pet him and hug him. Then he turns around and is bad all over again. I love him so much, so why does he keep on being bad?”

Dad put down his paper and pulled Dawn onto his lap. “Sometimes it takes a long time to train a puppy,” he said. “I’m sure Duke will learn eventually. But you know what? The way Duke responds to you is something like the way we often respond to God.”

“What do you mean?” asked Dawn.
“Remember what you said when you got Duke?” asked Dad. “You said you were going to love him so much that he would want to be good and please you. Instead, he’s been a lot of trouble - and sometimes we’re that way with God. He loves us so much that we should all want to be good and please Him. Instead, we often want to do things our own way and do things we know we shouldn’t do.”

Dawn nodded. “So we have to learn to obey God like Duke has to learn to obey us.”

“Right,” agreed Dad. “And remember how bad you feel when Duke disobeys you? Think how bad God must feel when the people He loves keep on ignoring His teachings.”

Thought: Am I an obedient child of God?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to remember I must stop grieving You with my disobedience. I must learn to read the Bible more and do what it says. In this way, You would be pleased, and I’d live a better Christian life too! This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.