“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.” Job 5:17 (NIV)

I often wonder what my little dog, Gracie, is thinking. She definitely has an attitude as she goes through a wide range of emotions. She gets so excited when we come home to sulking when we don’t allow her to go with us or chase the cats. She is a very sensitive little dog who will come and crawl in your lap to console you when you are upset. She will look you right in the eyes as though she wants to comfort you and take the pain away.

Gracie also has a mind of her own and knows where she wants to go. She knows to run to the pickup when we are getting ready to go somewhere. Whenever we take a trip, she seems to know the night before and is always the first one in the pickup when we open the door. She loves to hear that we are going to Grandma’s house and she makes a mad dash for her door. Sometimes I wonder if it could be that she knows she will get a treat.

We don’t have very much trouble with Gracie going where she should, that is until she sees a cat and takes off after it. A couple of times she got so excited that she actually went under the fence and wound up half a block away. I took off after her, frantic that she might get hurt. Each time she came back to me with her head hanging because she knew she was in big trouble.

Of course, every time we are away from home Gracie has to be on her leash. Now, she is the type of dog who wants to explore, but she is unaware of all the dangers that are out there. While I wish I could let her run loose, I keep her on a leash for her own safety.

Our Heavenly Father is like that with us. He knows that we want to please Him, but we allow ourselves to become distracted and lose our focus. If we take off on a whim without thinking, we can put ourselves in harm’s way. There are times when we go off on a tangent and have to be reeled in as though we are on a leash. Depending on the circumstance that leash is sometimes short and other times very long, but always there is God on the other end waiting to pull us in when something harmful is in our path.

Just as Gracie is disciplined and sometimes kept on a short leash, so should we be for our own good. When we allow ourselves to be corrected and guided on the right path, we will receive a blessing. Not only will we be kept out of harm’s way, we will know and feel the pure and perfect love of our Lord.

Debra Whittington is a longtime resident of Tucumcari. Contact her at: dawhittington@msn.com