We are in the midst of what the weather people are calling a blizzard. The wind has for over three hours been blowing over thirty five miles an hour and has been pelting the sides of our house with tiny ice crystals. At some point our eighty pound black lab has to go outside. When I open the door she puts her head outside and checks out the birds flocking to the feeder for food, but she is reluctant to venture forth. No amount of telling her to go has worked. But when I attach her leash she pushes past me to lead the way. If I am going with her then it must be okay and out we go.
She reminds me of me. I depend on the last words of Matthew 28 where Jesus promises to always be with us. I really don’t want to go anywhere without my Master. When I was small I learned to sing “Anywhere He leads me I can safely go…. Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade.” When we are small we have our parents but as the years go by in the due course of time we lose them. We become the big people. We become the security for our little ones.
Even though my dad has been gone for twenty-six years I still find myself impulsively wanting to call him and tell him about something that has happened in my life. Then I remember that I can’t. It is wonderful to know there is someone to call who is older, bigger, stronger and very interested in me. Jesus is there. So I call Him. Just as my dog seems to need a master so do I. So do we.
Written by Roger Bothwell on December 27, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org