God vs. Dog

Do you remember your first dog (or really any pet, but since dogs are superior to all other animals we will go with them)? I remember begging my parents for a puppy day after day. I didn’t need a really expensive dog or a pure bred, just a big old mut would do.
The issue was not money, the question was would I take care of it. “Oh, of course I will take care of it!!! I will feed it, give it water, walk it, give it baths, and I’ll even pick up the poop!”

Finally my parents agreed and we ended up with Chet the dog. I couldn’t get enough of Chet (not sure why that was the name we chose but okay), but after about two weeks I started shirking my responsibilities. The first thing to go was picking up the poop, after all, there was nothing funnier than my unsuspecting friends wrestling in the backyard only to find Chet’s treasures. Then the bathing, dogs clean themselves right? He didn’t need walks because Chet had a yard and I will just leave the toilet seat up so I don’t have to give him water. What started as “I will do anything to have a dog,” quickly turned into, “Do dogs really need to be fed EVERY day?” Suddenly, I was doing the bare minimum to keep the dog alive.

Do you remember when you first accepted Christ? When you first realized that God loves you? I remember that excitement! I began to turn away from sin, went to youth group, prayed, read my bible, and told others about my new hope. The first thing to go was telling others, awkward. Slowly stopped reading my bible, too much work. Praying seemed like talking to the ceiling. Sports got in the way of youth group. What started as “I love you God, thank you for your grace, I want to follow you,” quickly turned into, “What do I have to do to get to heaven.”

THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS NOT HEAVEN. It is to build a relationship with God and follow him. Heaven is an awesome bonus. What if we were a church that didn’t obey God out of obligation but out of love. What if we didn’t do things thinking of our rewards but thinking of God’s plan. Mike had a great challenge to our church, WHAT CHANGES DO YOU NEED TO MAKE IN YOUR LIFE? What changes does God want you to make?

Join us in reading the book of Daniel during your quiet time as we look at Daniel’s obedience to God. Really make a list of things that need to change in your life to honor God like he is God not a dog.