Aroma

A day or two ago, I was on my way to town in the car, when I saw our dog, Tilly eating something in the field. As I got closer, I noticed it was a large animal. Almost as big as her. I was disgusted and repulsed! It appeared that she was throughly enjoying herself. I yelled at her and told her to go home. She moved slightly away, and sat there looking at me in defiance. I was SO mad.

Tilly is half Saint Bernard, 1/4 Border Collie, 1/4 German Shorthair dog. We got her from the pound when she was about 4 months old. She was kept inside a small chicken coop with her litter and mother in complete filth. She had no human contact until she went to the pound. When I was talking to the shelter about her, they said she was extremely docile. My intention was to train her to be a companion dog for our daughter Abbey. A cool idea...rescue a dog, give a gift to a child......She has taught me more than I bargained for and stretched my patience.

Immediately we knew there were problems. She never wanted to be left alone and destroyed things when we did leave her. This docile puppy quickly turned into a dog with much anxiety. She had to sleep ONLY in the kitchen. She pottied in her kennel EVERY time we put her in there, that is what she had done for the first part of her life in the coop. It was natural to her. We wanted to crate train her...that was not going to work. We couldn't confine her in our laundry room because she would scratch and howl. She wrecked the door. We had to tether her to our dining room table while we were gone, which she thought was a chew toy. We made major progress in her training and she got older and reconditioned. By fall she was doing pretty well. We could trust her in the house by herself. We started letting her have more freedom.

She was given to much freedom..... She started exhibiting bad behavior again. She wouldn't come when she was called. She ran away. Started eating dead animals and bringing them home from our neighbors house. The same neighbor had dogs that came over and led her to running. She was hanging out with the wrong crowd, and became like them. At night we would put her in the laundry room and she totally smelled up the house. She whined and scratched at the door. She wanted to be outside, so we let her out.....The problem just got worse. I didn't take the time to work with her. As I was thinking about how exasperated and disgusted I was....I got a picture in my head of how I am not unlike Tilly. The Lord loves to use things that I am aggravated with to transform my thinking and show me how He sees things.

Before I was born again and accepted Jesus Christ in my life, I was hanging out in places and with people who were leading me down a wrong path. It felt natural to me. I felt very alone and sought the ways of the world to fill me up. There were no bounds to my freedom and what I would do with it. Sin permeated my life. Tilly is infatuated with dead animals, I was infatuated with sinning in the name of having fun and was dead in my transgressions. I am sure Tilly thinks it is fun to hunt for dead animals! Like Tilly, my perception on how to behave outside of that familiar environment, seemed uncomfortable and misplaced. I didn't know what holy was and thought that it was only for "excessively religious" people. The fragrant aroma coming from my life must have been a stench towards heaven. I was lost and confused. Tilly has been eating dead animals. She gives off a stench that is putrid. Not only does it smell up my laundry room, but also part of the house. I can't have that smell, I had to separate myself from her. That is much like the separation I had from the Lord before I understood who He is and who I am. My sin separated me from the Lord. Though He was always there, I was the one that moved away. Much like when I call Tilly, she looks at me with contempt and then runs in another direction. I moved her out to the garage today. I need to recondition and train her to not do these behaviors. I am not going to give up on her, but I have to discipline and teach her. My heavenly Father does the same for me.

Father wants to remove me from the stench of worldly ways and sin. I already know going my own way does NOT work. He disciplines me when I fall short and sin. He is faithful to recondition me. He taught me how to repent and turn away from temptation and gaze unto Him. When I am living holy, as He is holy, the aroma that I give up to the heavens, must be pleasing to Him.

I am amazed at the long suffering of the Savior I love soo soo much. He has never given up on me. He has been faithful, day by day, to mold me like clay in His gentle hands. He gave up the most precious thing, His Son, so that I could be really free. Free from myself and the sin which so easily entangles me. When I look to Him, conviction floods my heart. I hope that I am not like Tilly and look back with contempt or run away. I hope I listen, obey, and trust. I pray I submit to His Lordship and run after Him. These are the lessons I am going to teach our dog. I am looking forward to a new, sweet aroma....and she will look forward to her place inside!

Galations 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.