On A Leash

A Journal Entry – March 8, 2006

The other day I was sitting outside Willard Hall, taking a break from some homework, and there was, in the quad sitting by a tree, a young man, a student I’m assuming, with his little floppy-eared dog. It looked like a beagle. This little dog was walking and sniffing around and occasionally scampering about. He was on a leash, so he could only go so far before he was hindered, restricted, or otherwise prevented from going further. The other end of this leash was held by the young man. The dog looked like he wanted to play, but the young man was just sitting there, not interested in playing with his dog. Pretty soon, a family came by, a mother, a father, a small boy about 10 or 11, and a little girl maybe 4 or 5. The dog saw and heard them as they came by. They didn’t stop to pet the dog, or even pay attention to it really, but I could tell the dog was very happy to see little children. It ran toward them like it wanted to play with them, but before it could reach them, the leash ran out of slack, and the dog was prevented from going any further. After the children were out of sight, the little floppy-eared dog ran toward the young man he was attached to and tried to get him to play but to no avail. He settled down and went back to walking and sniffing around, and then some skater guys came by on roller skates and skateboards. They stopped and petted the little dog and gave him some of the attention that he was yearning for. But they were only there for less than a minute and then they went on their way. The little dog ran after them as if he wanted to go with them, but his leash once again thwarted his efforts. After he settled down again, he just sat there in the grass, near the end of his leash but no longer straining against it, seemingly content in where he was and what he was doing.

If we compare ourselves to the floppy-eared dog, the world to the young man the dog was attached to, and the passers by to God, or Jesus, we can draw some similarities to our lives. We are now in the world. We are born attached firmly to the world, it’s what we know, it’s what we see, it’s all we’ve experienced. As we get older, we see things from outside of the world pass by, specifically God. As we see, we yearn to be with Him and to know more about him, and we chase after Him, but inevitably our connection to the world prevents us from truly following Him. He might stop for a time and entertain our desires for a little while, but when He leaves, we again attempt to follow, but our tether to the world keeps us from Him. So we sit where we are with the knowledge that there are better things out there than what we have, pretending to be content. We desire God, but we don’t have a way to free ourselves from the world. Jesus provides a way to cut that leash and free us to pursue God fully and to enjoy the freedom of being un-tethered by the World. Do you have a leash? Jesus can set you free.