JANUARY 12, John 14:15

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

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

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

But Duke was not a good puppy. He soiled the carpet and chewed on shoes. He didn’t come when he was called. Dawn did scold and spank, but nothing seemed to help. Duke went right on chasing the cat and getting into places he didn’t belong. “Why is Duke so bad?” Dawn asked sadly one day. “When I scold him, he acts like he is 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 carried Dawn onto his lap. “Sometimes it takes a long time to train a puppy,” he said. “I am 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 has been getting into a lot of trouble – and sometimes we are 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 teaching.”

Thought: Are you an obedient child of God?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that You love me so much and want only the best for me. Teach me to always obey Your Holy Word. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.