Walking the Dog

So, every week I set out to spend time with the Lord by simply walking. I leave my apartment, and simply walk until I get back to my apartment. I do this for various reasons. I being that I have such an intense work and school regiment that I need to take the time to relax. But, I've also realized that I can spend some quiet time with the Lord. Sometimes, I walk for an hour or two, other times, I walk nearly the entire day. However, through it all, I always hear something that the Lord tells me. So, from here on out, I'll listen and post what it is that he lays on my heart. That being said, let's begin.

This morning, as I was walking, I was thinking about listening to the Lord. As in, figuring out what His plans are for you. I'm not posting this to say that I know what he's saying. Nor that I even know the complete plans for my life, but ultimately, we have to listen to what He tells us. But, even more so, we have to learn to discern when God is talking to us, and when it may be some other force, or even ourselves trying to convince us of something else. I don't understand how to do this, so I can't offer much explanation on the discernment of this. However, I can say that God has made certain things in my life very clear. And He has revealed some things to me on my walk today.

When I leave for my walk - or even when I leave for school everyday - my dog stands next to me the entire time. She follows me around my apartment as I get ready, waiting for me to pet her. She watches me brush my teeth. Then, when I start to leave, she bombards the door. I have to pet her, then rush out of the door so that she doesn't escape. I feel bad for leaving her, but she can't come with me. I've realized that we need to act like my dog in regards to our relationship with God. We must actively follow Him from the time we wake up until we go to bed each night. We have to make it our duty to actively search for Him and stay by His side. Sometimes, it might seem like He has left us, but He hasn't. Sometimes, when my dog starts playing with one of her toys I'll go into a different room and then a few minutes later, she'll run in clearly worried that I left her without her knowing. But, I was still there. In the same way, we sometimes take our time and play with something we have. Or veering off to do something else. God's purpose is always moving forward, whether we stop to do something on our own, we just have to take time to find our way back to Him.

But, there's another side to this. How we often treat God. You see, often times, when we leave for our daily lives, we treat God more like my dog. We wake up with Him at our side. We get ready for our day with Him. We may even spend time with Him in the morning before we leave. However, when we close our front, we sometimes leave Him behind. Why? Why don't we take the time to put Him in our backpack, or our purse, or our mind? Why don't we offer Him to answer the questions that come up in our daily life? I can't honestly say that I do this. Nor can I say why I don't. But, I am learning more and more how to do this. And I hope that I can become better at this, and I pray that God will be with me always.

In God's name I pray. Amen.