No Leash For Us!

Quigley depends on someone in the family to take him outside several times a day.  What fun it would be for him if we could open the door and let him scoot out of the house to run, jump, wallow in the grass, eat whatever is on the ground, and chase chickens!  Yet to keep him safe and away from things he shouldn't be into, he has to have a leash.  Certainly when Billy takes him for long walks he has to be on a leash or he might fall into some danger on that country road.

With a leash, I can somewhat control what he is doing.  I sometimes let him chase the chickens as long as I hold him on the leash, but he only gets so close, not enough to catch one, just close enough to send them squawking, running, and sometimes flapping their wings to fly just off the ground to avoid being caught.  I let him confront a hen one day, only to find that she had chicks and was none too happy, protecting them like a mother would.  Thankfully, I had him on the leash and pulled him back before she pecked him!

Humans, though, are not kept on leashes that control them.  Sure we see toddlers with harnesses, and there are certainly those that we think need to be controlled with leashes, but God has made us to move around freely in our world.  He has given us free will to make our own choices.  Sad thing is, we have to live with those decisions we have made and may spend years breaking the bond of bad choices.  The good thing is that we can recoup from the unwise decisions that seem to be impossible situations.

God is good and forgiving.  He is a Father that disciplines, often not to our liking, yet He brings us back to Him.  It's our choice to serve Him or ignore Him.  He wants us to live a life pleasing and faithful to Him, but it is our choice.

I can't imagine a world where I would be bound and under the control of someone who would keep me on a leash.  Thank God He has called us to be His children, wants to protect us, and desires to bestow the best upon us.  It's there for the asking.  It's there for the taking.  Are we listening to the instructions our Father is giving us?

I want what's best for Quigley, and he has been disciplined.  He's a fast learner and a good example of one who has learned to behave and listen to instructions.  Yet unlike us, he still has to stay on that leash!