An Unexpected Message From a Kong Toy
A few months back my kids finally wore my husband down and convinced him that we could get a dog. We settled on a 6 month old Plott Hound puppy that won over all our hearts with the sweetest brown eyes you have ever seen. Once we brought him home, we immediately began buying him all the chew toys to prevent him from destroying every Barbie doll my girls own. One of his favorite toys is his Kong Toy that can be stuffed with a treat or his personal favorite, peanut butter. We usually give him this toy when we are putting him in his crate before we leave to keep him busy while we are away. Typically, he is not too eager to go into his crate, but when he sees us reaching for the peanut butter, it’s a totally different story. When he hears the word Kong he runs and sits in his crate, eagerly awaiting his reward of getting to enjoy the sweet reward. My kids always laugh when they don’t have to shove him into his crate because he willingly complies with being confined when he knows he’s got goodness coming his way.
Watching my dog follow this daily routine really got me thinking. I’ve heard it said that some people view Christianity as just a religion of rules to follow and is why they choose not to participate in it as an organized religion. They say it shouldn’t be a religion to follow but a relationship with God that should matter. The idea of adhering to the doctrine found in Scripture is like being trapped in a cage and too confining. What they seem to not understand is that we have been given the gift of Scripture not to restrict us and make us feel trapped, but rather as boundaries to live within. Boundaries placed on us from a loving God who uses these boundaries for our good. If we chose not to lock up our dog in his crate when we leave the house, he would get into all sorts of things that could potentially harm him or even kill him. As his owners, we know what’s right for him and set boundaries around him to protect him in the same way that God has set up boundaries around us to protect us. The Bible is not a list of rules we must follow but a recipe for how to have a loving relationship with God.
In the book of Psalms we find that this concept of the goodness found within God’s boundaries. David, the writer of many of the Psalms, had made choices in his life that fell outside God’s boundaries, and we can read how he learned to appreciate God’s boundaries. In Psalm 19: 9-11 he writes,
“The rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward”
When we begin to understand our heavenly Father’s plan and design for each of us, we can begin to see the good within the boundaries he has for us. We can enter into these boundaries He has established for us, not with kicking and screaming, but with a heart of eager anticipation of the reward He is preparing for us. This is not a reward because we were a “good boy” and went into our cage, but a gift of mercy from our Heavenly Father because of His great love for us. We get to experience the peace found within His boundaries here on Earth and eagerly anticipate that sweet reward in the future. May we learn to embrace these boundaries the way David writes about in Scripture. May we view the rules of the Lord as being sweeter than honey from the honeycomb or, dare I say, sweeter than peanut butter from a Kong toy.
