I have been evaluating my life lately. Taking a look at what I may have achieved for the Lord from the time I received Him as my Savior in November of 1978. I’m asking myself the question “What has defined me in furthering the Kingdom of God?” Have I done enough or am I way short of what God has planned for me?
It’s not that I feel that God is mad or disappointed, because His Love is so abundant that I believe it overwhelms His expectations for us. I am just wondering how short I am of His plan. Have you ever thought of His plan?
I have prayed for His plan for me and asked for Him to reveal it. I don’t believe that I have really, fully taken the courage to walk in His plan as He has designed it through His word. Our instructions for prayer, witnessing, giving, sharing, speaking, and the greatest of these, loving our neighbor as ourselves has all been laid out for our purpose.
Sure, we can say that it’s too hard to walk on that road. So, we walk as close to it as we can and rely on His mercy and grace to fill in the gap, and it does. The thing is, I wonder what it would be like to move over and stay on His road, walking along and knowing where you are with Him.
Is the view different? Are His consuming love and joy that are poured into us greater? I believe that He loves us so much that from time to time, regardless of how far we are from His road, He, in His mercy, moves His road over to us just so we can walk on it and feel what it is like. Receiving this feeling, we will remember, and have the desire to move closer to His plan.
My wife and I go for walks a few times a week around the block. It is about a half a mile. As we head down the road, we make a left turn onto another street and walk up a hill for about a quarter of a mile. It is hard for me due to a disability I have with my right leg, but I push myself through it. As we get near the top of the hill there is a home on our left that has a dog on a chain tied to a tree.
Without fail, this dog barks like crazy every single time we walk by. Day or night, it does not matter, he still barks loud and continuous! It is as if he is saying, "Will you turn and look at me? Will you acknowledge me? Will you listen to me? Can you hear me?"
This thought came to me the other day . . . "Isn’t that an illustration of what God has in His plan for us?" Paul speaks about the new covenant in (2 Corinthians 3:12) "Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech." Do you have such a hope?
Just think, even if our road is steep and hard to climb, aren't we suppose to push ourselves a little and keep on barking, day or night, to all who walk by, that Jesus is the Savior and He wants you to know Him?
I believe that this is a very important part of God’s road. I know it’s a large part of what should define me if I call myself His servant. So, as I stand on my feet in the morning and walk out into the world, I must ask myself...
Am I the barking dog?
2 Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
2 Corinthians 2:15
For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
2 Corinthians 2:16
To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?
2 Corinthians 2:17
For we are not, as so many, peddling the Word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.
