The Diet Blog

 My poor dog, Jim, has had a rough couple of months. It started with a torn ACL with bone spurs underneath. Part of his recovery was losing weight.  Our big ol’ dog topped out at a whopping 106 when he had his surgery. Today, we are proud to say he’s slimmed down to a svelte 86 pounds.

Amazing what a spring in his step he has now! The diet food (Science Diet, if you were wondering) has done wonders for his coat, and I swear he’s just like a puppy. But that was a tough road. It’s not easy to make a dog like Jim diet. My husband doesn’t think it bothered him much, but I’m telling you, I’m home all day long. That poor pooch was starving!  He got a cup and a half of diet food twice a day. He’d scarf it down faster than you can blink, then spend the rest of the day following us around hoping for crumbs.  

I used to look at Jim and wish there was some way I could tell him that this was just a temporary deal. That even though it was no fun right now, he’d lose the weight, and we’d stabilize his diet again. The problem is I don’t speak dog. Even if I did bark at him (ridiculous thought, I know), I’d have no way to know what I was saying. Or if he understood. So he just had to get through it, with no comfort of knowing when or if the diet would end.

I’m going to take a bit of creative license here, so bear with me. But I wonder if that doesn’t resemble us every now and then. Here we are, on this big, beautiful planet. Worrying about this, stressing about that, agonizing over things that seem so important…and completely missing God’s voice. We really aren’t very different than the Israelites 3000 years ago.

God meets with Moses face to face. Moses, in turn, leads the Israelites out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the desert.  They eat manna from heaven, drink water from rocks, and still they don’t believe. Fast forward a few generations.  We have the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekial, Daniel, Hosea. Wonder after wonder, miracle after miracle, and still the people turn from God. So the Kind of kings, sitting in the heavenly throne room says, “That’s it!”  He takes off his majestic, holy robes, wraps himself in a cloak of flesh, and comes to earth.

I still sometimes have to sit back in amazement. God is always reaching out to us, pursuing us. David writes in Psalm 19:1- The heavens tell of the glory of God.  The skies display His marvelous craftsmanship.  Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. He whispers to us in the breeze, sings to us through the birds, dazzles us with a night sky full of twinkling stars, splashes colorful sunsets across the sky…and still we question. Still we doubt. Every word spoken by the prophets came true in Jesus Christ, and we still find it hard to believe.

2000 years after the resurrection, I find myself guilty of taking it for granted. Oh, how that must break His heart!  Psalm 8:3-6 tells us we are God’s crown jewel of creation!  “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars you have set in place – what are mortals that you should think of us?  For you made us only a little lower than the angels, and you crowned us with glory and honor.  You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things.”

He made us to be with Him, to have a loving relationship with Him. He reached out in every way, through every means possible. Prophets, signs, wonders! And what happened? God’s chosen people looked like hamsters on a treadmill, running furiously to work their way to God, and missing Him entirely.

I wish I could see what went on in the heavenlies the night Jesus was born. Luke 2:13 says, “Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others – the armies of heaven – praising God.” The Creator of heaven and earth, draping himself in flesh, and being born to a woman. Wearing diapers. Toddling those first steps. I’d give anything to know His first word. Did He suck His thumb? Have a special blankie?  That’s the mother in me.

I also wonder what it was like to walk among the very people He created. Picture Jesus looking around, thinking, “Oh, look!  There’s Simon.  He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m about to rock his world.  So much so that a name change is in order.” He knows the name and face of everyone He sees. Knows their deepest fears, their heart’s desires. Can you imagine walking past Him, and the feeling you’d get when you looked in His eyes?  Like you knew Him, but how?  Like you’d seen Him, but where?  Matthew tells us the disciples stopped in their tracks when they heard His voice.  Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and went with Him.  A little farther up the shore He saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets.  And He called them to come, too. They immediately followed Him, leaving the boat and their father behind. – Matthew 4:19-22.

I think about how much I love my children, and how much more God loves each of us. It must’ve broken His heart to walk among His creation, and face rejection. As the guard forced the crown of thorns into Jesus’ flesh, Jesus knew his name. He was there at the moment of his conception. He’d watched the baby turn into a boy, and the boy into a man.  His precious children, persecuting Him. And finally hanging Him on a cross.

Let us never take the work on the cross for granted. The measures God took to reach us are staggering! The grace, the mercy, the love – they’re free!  God beckons us to come, to accept His invitation of salvation. All we have to do is receive Him. The rest was done 2000 years ago on the cross.

Poor Jim just had to suffer through the diet; I never did learn to speak “dog.” But God sent His Son to reach us. And now we have the Holy Spirit, working through us. If we go through this life just enjoying the fact that we have Jesus and we know where we’re going and that’s enough for us, we have missed the full meaning of the work on the cross. The job is now ours. It’s our duty, out of love for our Savior, to introduce Him to our friends. To love as He loves, and to serve as He served. To SHINE. God bless you, and Happy Easter! Now go spread the love!!!