Dogs aren’t just cute, devoted, warm, and fuzzy. They teach us important things about God…and ourselves. We may just be dogs in Jesus’ pack…but He’s the best Alpha ever!

All Dogs Are Just Dogs

All dogs sniff butts. They all will eat “goat fudge” if they get the chance, and will check out their own vomit to see if there’s anything that deserves a second chance.

You can’t blame them…they’re just dogs.

You collies and labs, don’t pretend you’re better than the hound.

It’s fun to think how much better you are than the other dogs…how well you heel, and sit, and stay…how well you listen to Alpha.

But in the end, you’re just a dog. Don’t pretend your mess smells any better than theirs…Alpha still puts it in a scoop bag and throws it away. That’s what it’s like to be a dog.

The good news is, Alpha also plays with you and scratches your ears and gives you dinner just like all His other dogs.

So be happy…and don’t act like you’re more Alpha’s dog than another of the Pack.

(Except post-trib cessationists poodles. Everyone is superior to poodles.)

A Dog Will Never Have the Mind of a Man

We think we are very clever.

Alpha makes me do tricks every morning for breakfast, and I have it all figured out what he wants –

Oops. No.

Alpha is going in and out and in and out the door and doing things with the car and I bet I know exactly what he’s doing –!

Er…nope. No idea.

I speak Alpha’s language perfectly! I know my own name and some tricks and W-A-L-K and B-R-E-A-K-F-A-S-T!

But a dog will still never understand human thoughts.

We think we are very clever. It’s fun to be clever.

We talk about the Trinity and “the Quickening of the Holy Spirit” and Sanctification…but we’re still just dogs trying to understand a Son of Man.

If I explain economics very slowly and carefully to my dog, he will understand…his name. And probably hope there is a snack involved at some point. He is on a completely different level, and I can never communicate exactly what I’m thinking and desiring.

But that’s okay. I still hug him and feed him, and he is content with his place in the Pack. He doesn’t need to understand why I want him to “come” and “stay” for him to obey…to be a good member of our Pack.

Being With Master is the Best Thing Ever

Okay, real talk: Our dog is terrified of water. When we visit the grandparents at the lake, he refuses to go swimming…not even to catch a duck (which drives him quite crazy).

But he’s decided that the paddle-board is a stable enough floating surface. Enough that he actually “asked” me to bring it over to the dock so he could climb on.

You see, when he’s floating on the paddle-board, he can be “with us” while we swim…without having to get in the scary water.

Because being with his Pack is the Best Thing Ever.

I will never understand Alpha Jesus.

Sometimes I wonder why he allows such funny-looking dogs into the Pack.

(They smell very strange!)

But when He tells me to sit at His feet – it’s the best ever.

He also feeds me and makes me obey and sometimes I “ride in the car” to places I never went before (and sometimes it’s scary!) but He’s always there, and I know if I stay at His heel everything is good.

Our dog is always disappointed when he can’t come with us…no matter where we’re going…because being with Alpha’s Pack is the best thing ever.

The good news is, Jesus never has to leave us behind because He is the best Alpha ever.

*you hear the sound of a metaphor stretched too far suddenly snapping back, and a yelp of surprise*

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Kimia Wood currently lives somewhere in the American Midwest with her family…including the brother people mistake for her boyfriend.

She’s bracing for the collapse of society by knitting, baking, writing, hobby-farming, and reading as much Twitter as possible before the web goes dark.

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