I have written about my dog, Tiger Lilly, a couple of times. She truly is this man’s best friend. My wife and I have had her about five years now. She started out a country dog, staying out-of-doors, roaming the pasture behind the house, checking fence lines and cattle with me in the side by side and just loving nature as an animal should. When she was three years old she became a city dog and quite domesticated moving indoors.
She now has a bed on the floor next to my side of the bed and not in the doghouse, her food and water bowl are in the kitchen and not on the back porch, and she even has a spot on the couch where she sits (more on that later) rather than a bench that is also on the back porch. She has made the adjustment to domestication quite well.
But even as an outdoor dog, she would get to come inside in extremely cold or stormy weather. She had a little bed on the floor and would come in and lay on it. As she grew out of the puppy stage, she soon would come inside first thing in the morning and join me as I had my coffee and did my morning Bible reading. I would get around and stroll from the bedroom and make the coffee, then get ready for the day returning about the time the coffee would be done. I would get a cup of coffee, let Tiger inside, go to the recliner and sit to read…and Tiger would wait for me to let her up to sit beside me in the chair.
As she became domesticated with the move from the country to the city, she now hears me get up and around, turn on the coffee, finish getting ready and waits for me patiently in the living room to get my coffee and move to the recliner (now a couch with recliner at each end). I sit down and call her to get up on the couch where there is her blanket where she can sit.
Tiger then sits quite attentively waiting for the ear scratches, head rub, back scratches and ending with a belly rub. While I go through this process I am talking to her and asking her if she had a good night and slept well (like I expect an answer) and telling her what a good dog she is (because that is what pet owners do). Then we settle down and read God’s Word. Well, actually, I read, she just sits and takes in all the scratches, rubs and petting I give her.
Sometimes she looks intently at whatever I am reading, and I almost believe she is reading it herself. Sometimes I read to her and she listens quite attentively as if she hears what I am saying. Other times I may just tell her what I am reading, and what it means and she seems to understand. But, most days, she is just there beside me for the attention and affection.
I have put pictures of her looking over my Bible as I go to get a cup of coffee. Some of the pictures look like she is actually having her quiet time and reading the Bible. One person commented that I must have the holiest dog in the world! (Sounds good to me.)
Where am I going with this I am sure you are asking? Well, I do actually have a destination for this trip. It is not the Bible and reading that my dog is really interested in. It is me! She just wants to spend time with me. There is no one else around, no other cats, other dogs, or anything. It is just Tiger Lilly and me, the master. She waits every day for this time to spend with me. My wife, Jill, is around her all day long, but I am here for the short time in the morning and then leave and often do not return until end of the day.
Tiger wants to spend time with me, quality time, just the two of us. And when I am finished with my reading (usually about an hour) I get up and go on my way, and Tiger, she goes about her day…laying in the sun, running in and outside about a jillion times, exploring out in the fields around the house and terrorizing the cat. Just doing dog stuff until I get home in the evening.
I thought about all of this as I preached a message a couple of weeks ago from Genesis 3, God meeting Adam and Eve in the garden every day, and one day He couldn’t find them. He called, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9) This made me wonder if we wait for that time with God each day as Tiger waits for me to have my coffee and Bible reading. Do we get excited to spend time with God every day? Are we longing for that time of just being with Him with no interruptions or distractions?
Do we miss the appointed time and cause God to ask, “Where are you?” Tiger mopes if we miss that time together, I mean literally her day is ruined until I sit and talk to her. Do we ever get that way when we miss the appointed time with God? We should!
Petting my God Loving Pooch, Bro Tim
