Lent - Drawing Closer to God and Belly Rubs
Posted: Saturday, February 27, 2010
by Mark Parsec
Wordcasters
It is the season of Lent. It is a season of reflection and introspection. A season of abstinence and fasting and prayer. But, in the midst of all this self-denial and flagellation one cannot help but ask, “What’s the point? Why do we do this? Why should we go through all of this suffering and pain?”
Well, in order to help put things into perspective it would be beneficial for us to consider the Word of God. In Matthew 16:24 we are told, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
So in a very real way, the self-denial that we experience during Lent is a discipline that we voluntarily submit to as we strive to follow Jesus. To illustrate this point I’d like to share a story about our dog Twilight.
For the most part, Twilight is a very faithful and obedient dog. She obeys the most basic of commands like, “sit, stay, come and lay down”. These are all things that she can do and she does them quite well. She will even walk right beside us as we go about our duties in the yard. And, quite happily so, as she brushes up against us just to let us know that she is there.
Yes, Twilight is a good dog, a faithful dog, and my wife and I love her very much. BUT… there is one area in particular in which Twilight has a problem. Twilight LOVES to chase cats. Without notice, she will go from 0 to 60 in .5 seconds when she spies a cat anywhere in “HER” yard.
Yet, despite this, we have been able to discipline Twilight to “stay” whenever she sees a cat while we are present. Now, you have to understand that this is not something that is very easy for her to do, because it is in her nature to chase cats. So, when these situations arise and Twilight is all prepared to go on the chase we simply tell her, “No. Come. Sit. Stay.” And because Twilight loves us, she obeys and will generally sit at our feet, even if she isn’t too happy about it.
In some ways, there are many Christians that are like Twilight. It is in their nature to chase after the things of the world. Sadly, many of us don’t listen when God says, “No. Come. Sit. Stay.” Consequently, we find ourselves out of God’s presence, instead of sitting at His feet, and this disruption of our relationship causes God grief and us pain.
So, during Lent as we refrain from the things of the world that we are naturally inclined to chase after we have an opportunity to learn not only more about submission and obedience but also how to stay in relationship with the Lord.
And, this is how it works… All of us, at some point in our lives; have been in a relationship with someone whom, for one reason or another, wasn’t able or willing to put time and effort into the relationship. This often happens between husbands and wives or between parents and their children. Instead of spending quality time with us, they are going off to other places, doing other things, pursuing other interests. Subsequently, the relationship is strained, there are hurt feelings, misunderstandings and in severe cases - spouses are divorced or children are disowned.
If ONLY the other person would have practiced a little more self-discipline… If only they had been a little more self-sacrificing. If only they had been able to say, “No” to those things they were chasing after and Come and Sit and Stay with us for a while, then our relationships could have flourished.
In many ways, this is what Lent is all about. It is about building relationship with the Lord. It is about listening to His voice when He says, “No… Come… Sit… Stay.” And, IF we are to spend more quality time with the Lord then we need to resist the things of the world, which the devil tempts us with that only deprives us of the quality time we could be spending with God. If we are to be successful in this endeavor we must listen to the voice of the Lord and submit to His invitation when He says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…”
You see, relationship is not always about what we think we want. Relationship requires self-denial and sacrifice. Twilight thinks she really wants to chase cats… but she is willing to submit to the command, “No… Come… Sit… Stay, because she wants to stay in relationship with her master.
As we reflect upon this aspect of Lent and its implications upon our relationship to the Lord, James 4:7-10 becomes quite instructive…
James 4:7-10 (NIV)
7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
There is no doubt that the disciplines of fasting and prayer bring suffering and pain as we grieve and mourn and wail within ourselves. But, I can guarantee that Twilight isn’t always too happy either about sitting still when a big fat cat is strutting down the sidewalk just yards away. Every ounce of her being is telling her to, “Run, Catch, Eat!” But, she submits to, “No… Come… Sit… Stay.”
As Twilight humbles herself and submits to the instruction of her Master, she is rewarded when we tell her, "Good girl" and give her lots of love, tender caresses and belly rubs. The payoff for her is much more rewarding than the consequences of giving in to her nature to chase cats only to crawl home with her tail between her legs because she knows that she is in trouble.
I don’t know about you, but I like getting belly rubs from the Lord. How about you?
Besides, with cats, there is another time when Twilight is inclined to run. Twilight hates baths! But, being an outside dog, she gets quite dirty and smelly. So… she HAS to have her baths!
If we attempt to approach her with the garden hose, she’ll dart off in an instant. So, we have to approach her without the hose, tie her by her leash and then wash her. Needless to say, she hates every second of it. BUT… when we are done washing her, she runs and jumps and dances and plays… because being clean feels good. And, when she’s clean we will pick her up and hug her and love on her and give her belly rubs.
Similarly, the Lord wants to wash away the dirt and smell of sin from our lives too. It can be a very painful process for us. So much so, that we may be inclined to run. But, if we humble ourselves before Him and allow Him to clean us up, afterwards we feel so much better. He will lift us up and love on us. He'll say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant" and give us belly rubs.
James says, “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” The problem is we aren’t capable of getting the stench of sin out of our lives all by ourselves. It is something only the Lord can do. And, He can only do that when we are in relationship with Him.
The Lord wants to clean you up. Are you ready? Do you hear His voice when He says, “No, don’t do that. Come, Sit by my side and Stay with me a while.”
If we heed his voice, He will keep us out of trouble, He will clean us up, and then… then he will give us a belly rub that is out of this world!
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)You are an Inspirational person and an inspirational writer so forgive me.Christian Lent, not unlike the Jewish Sabbath, has been man made into a religious enforced restraint, a spiritually synthesized confining prison with manmade rules.There is foremost, unlimited 'bellyrubs' for all of us in God's Universe from God to us without exclusionary rules or conditional rules of His love.One should love one's child unconditionally, regardless of the report card that they carry and bring home.Unconditional love is truly what God offers to us; conditional love, based on strict 'rules adherence 'is not nourishing to child or dog and arises only from within man who muddles the picture.Paul SchroederHi Paul,
Yes, God's love is unconditional. However, we often miss out on His many blessings because we opt for the immediate gratification that comes with pursuing the things of this world. Through self-denial we learn what it is we have been missing... His presence, His power... His belly rubs.
Mark
Thank you for writing this. This is the first time I am actually sacrificing something during lent and I need as much inspiration as I can get.Hi Natalia,
Remember every time you long for that thing that you have sacrificed to draw closer to God, when you have an urge or a craving call on Him, pray to Him, thank Him. You will do just fine.
God bless you,
Mark
Love the photo of the baby - this is an incredible piece. Well written and timely. Perspective. God is God. And we? We are not "little gods" speaking things into existence in our little worlds. We are not throw aways but we are cherished children - not omniscient or omnipotent but kids of the king. Now we can pray that all will have ears to hear and eyes to see before the next page in the history to our earth is turned. Thanks for writing this one, Mark!Hi Marijo,
It is good to hear from you. Hope you are doing well. Thank you for your comments.
God bless you always,
Mark
Great article Mark. Thanks for sharing.Hi Linda,
Thanks! You're super! I appreciate you following my articles.
God bless you always,
Mark
Loved it-not sure about the tying up bit though. My Border Collie loves me completely, respects me, likes to do what is right-yet if she spots a squirrel she shoots off at 100 MPH and becomes deaf and blind to my existence for a while. What would be the biblical analogy to this?CxHi Carol,
Seems sometimes we become deaf and blind to God's existence in our lifes when we get caught up chasing things in this material world. Thanks for your comments.
God bless you always,
Mark
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