The world through a Renewed Spirit

Second Lesson

When I was first saved, I was walking on air for weeks. The ecstasy I experienced was beyond description. I could not get enough of Bible reading, church, prayer, and sharing my story. As time went by, the realities of daily living again took charge of my life, and the joy drifted away from me. Routines, even error-free routines, became a dull drum beat punctuated by occasional specks of laughter or smiles.

In talking to other Christians, I found that I was not alone in that narrative. However, it took my mixed Lab, Sam, to show me how life should be lived. For the first eight years of his life we lived in our small town, but our farm was within a six or seven minute drive.

Almost daily I would commute to the farm and spend an hour or more doing work on it or just walking over it. Sam relished these outings. I quickly learned that even the word 'farm' had a dynamic effect on him. Sam could be napping, but if I informed my wife I was leaving for that destination, he became fully alert leaping to his feet and heading for the door. He literally bounced up and down until I opened the door and he raced to my work truck. 

The ride to the farm was the appetizer. Sam sat in the seat beside me and tried to see and hear everything on the country road through the half open passenger window. The scenery only changed by virtue of seasons, time of day, and weather. The same pastures, woods, and creeks greeted us on the undulating blacktop. But Sam saw everything as a first time experience. No reruns.

It did not end there. When we reached our destination, he could not wait to jump from the truck - sometimes sliding under my legs as I opened the door. I had to issue repeated reminders to wait.

Sam would begin his tour in the immediate area around the truck, then barn and then vineyard, in ever-widening circles. He would occasionally find evidence of a trespassing rabbit, squirrel, deer, or coyote. Then he would pause to post his own liquid 'no trespassing' sign as a warning.

He delighted in running across fields, into woods, and a quick swim in the pond. His joy in swimming was obvious by his squeaks of glee as a pup and later it transitioned into grunts as an adult. Have you ever seen a dog smile. Sam would. He would run back to me smiling into the wind.

Sam’s gleeful attitude has not changed. Old age has done nothing to diminish it. How, I ask myself, could this canine look at this daily jaunt as his first time to experience it? Could it be my Sam suffers from amnesia and yesterday has not imprinted itself on his senses? No, because he knows where to go and what places to check out for bones he has hidden.

The happiness that Sam feels is sincere. His joy in being alive and drinking in the newness of each day and what it has in store for him is part of his being. Our God’s mercies and compassions are endless. He is faithful when we are not. This is why we celebrate each day.

Sam has shown me that the Creator wants me to share the same joy in what He has given me, which I don’t deserve, and to worship Him in body, mind, and spirit. Now I try to live like my Lab in finding wonder and excitement in my day.

Great is his faithfulness; his lovingkindness begins afresh each day. My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him. Lamentations 3:23-24 (Living Bible)

(PS: Visit my gallery site to see photos of my farm, Beacon Acres.)