I have a dog. Her name is Tiger Lily. She is a Mountain Cur breed. She is a brindle c o l o r , black and brown stripes ( henc e you have the name Ti ge r ) . We got her as a puppy, 6 weeks old. She started out as an outdoor dog. We lived in the country, and her job was to keep the varmints away (opossum, skunks, raccoons and coyotes). She did a good job, too.

Now, we did not just put her outside alone. The first several months she had a sidekick, Lady. Lady was a Red Healer. She was about a year old and just showed up outside our door one day. Outdoor life was for her. She taught Tiger Lily the ropes of being an outdoor dog. Lady was very protective of me (let’s just say you did not want to get between Lady and me). Lady ended up getting rehomed to a rancher and I would like to think she is very happy. Later Tiger’s brother, Festus, came to live with us for a few months. Tiger and Festus were very good outdoor dogs, just too much puppy for one house. After a few months Festus went to a new home also.

Tiger’s next companions were the kittens we adopted. Every good country home with a barn has to have some cats. Tiger acclimated quite well with the kittens. They roamed the pastures together, played well together and even slept together at night. They were and still are good buddies.

As a puppy, Tiger and I would have our evening together on the back porch watching the cows, traffic on the mountain south of us or just watching the sunset. She would get in my lap and be quite content.

Over the past four years, Tiger has made a transition. She would get to come in when storms would come through or when the arctic blast of winter would hit. Jill would let her come inside and lay on a blanket or towel. Soon she had her spot on the couch with a blanket. When it was bedtime, she would go back outside with the cats and sleep in the dog house. I would let her come inside when I got up in the morning and she would sit in my recliner with me as I drank my coffee and had my quiet time reading the Bible.

Then while Jill and I were on vacation, Jill’s sister let Tiger come in for a sleep-over. Tiger has been an inside dog ever since. Mind you, she is a good indoor dog. She is house broken, very tidy, doesn’t chew up the furniture, the rugs or anything like that. She has a room where she sleeps on her bed or in our room she has a cushion bed on the floor. If you were to say she is quite spoiled you would be quite right!

And yes, she still gets up with me every morning as I have my coffee and quiet time. She goes outside, does her business and comes in jumping on her blanket on the couch right beside me. I drink my coffee, read my Bible and scratch her ears, rub her tummy or just pet her on the back, neck or chest. This is our ritual. Some mornings as she hears me getting around in the bedroom, I come out to the living room and she is waiting on me for the daily ritual.

If for some reason we miss this routine, she is completely out of kilter. Her whole day is ruined. She will mope around the house, sigh while looking at the front door or front window looking for me, wondering where I am and what happened. She will be like this until I come home and sit on the couch and she has her time with her master.

I call this her Master Affection. She has to have that time or her day is just ruined. And then it hit me. Am I (or are we) that way with God? If we do not have that time each day to spend with God in Bible reading, prayer or meditation, is our day ruined until I/we can sit down with Him? Do we long for that special time each day where it is just God and me?

I know when I miss my daily time with the Master, my day seems to be shot, off track or out of kilter. It seems like everything just goes wrong. Then I stop and remember that I did not sit down, take a breath and make time to be with God. Once I do, it just seems like everything gets better. Kind of like my dogs disposition when I make time to be with her. She prances instead of mopes.

Are we that way? We mope instead of prance? What can we do to remedy this? Get back to that quiet place and spend time with God. Unplug from all the distraction and sit down next to the Master and let Him love on you awhile. It’s called Master Affection!!!

Bro. Tim