Stay!

Kizzy is beginning to do much better with the "stay" command. When I am alone at the church, I can leave the office door open and make a trip to the other office, or to the "facilities" and she will be waiting for me (near the door, but still inside!) However, should I give her the "stay" command, go to do an errand in the building and someone happens to come to the church, all bets are off! She loves people and that (in her mind) still overrules the "stay" directive that I gave her!

Isn't that a lot like us? God gives us plain rules to follow and tells us to "stay away from trouble" (that would be my paraphrase of 1 Thessalonians 5:22). Yet, we find the sin so enticing that we just want to try to "stay at the door" looking out, but then something happens and we rush right out of the door! Kizzy is learning (with the help of positive reinforcement in the form of praise, hugs, and of course dehydrated chicken chips!

God is there to praise us when we stay "out of trouble" and to one day give us that hug (I don't know about the dehydrated chicken chips, but I think I'll pass on those!). All we have to do is follow the outline given to us in Philippians 4:4-8 (especially verse 8):

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

So, what do you say? Isn't about time we did our best to stay away from evil and think on the positive things? I do!