Saving Sammy

Another neat thought from aophomeschooling.com....

"Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Have you ever had those moments in time when you saw something about to happen, but felt helpless to stop it? I was having one of those moments as I watched my son's black lab take notice of a car coming over the hill over a mile away from our home. In that instant, I could see and sense what was about to happen in my mind.

For several months, we had included dog obedience training in my son's homeschool curriculum. Both my son and I had become frustrated with his black lab, Sammy. We had taught him many things, but the one thing we couldn't teach him was to give up chasing cars. Even though we had a long driveway and lived in the country, our space wasn't enough for him. We had even resorted to tying him up, but today we had let him loose to play as we worked outside.

Before I could grab the collar on this fifty-pound fireball, Sammy started running toward the car he had seen. Both my son and I ran after him, screaming for him to stop. Everything went into slow motion, as I saw that the dog and the car were on a collision course. We did all we could, but Sammy would not obey and stop. He was broadsided by the car at 50 mph.

The disobedience of Sammy provided a significant spiritual lesson for my son. Although Sammy had learned to do many things right, his death was caused by the one vice he refused to give up: wanting his own way. He literally ran headlong into trouble, and met death at the end.

God grieves over your sinful disobedience each day, too. You let the Holy Spirit teach you the Word, but then refuse to be disciplined in the areas you are weakest. Because you do not see an immediate consequence, you run headlong into your vices of laziness, selfishness, or criticizing, and think they will never hurt you. But you are always on a collision course when you remain in known sin. The Holy Spirit is quenched by your defiance, and soon you are unable to hear His voice calling you back. Don't wait for a wreck to turn you around. Stop and yield your life to the Lord, today! "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).