I have a wonderful springer spaniel who is now 10 years old. Bird dogs have natural instincts and inclinations, but as a puppy, obedience is a foreign concept and has to be taught with a loving but firm hand.
Without obedience to their human, dogs get lost. They can be anxious, unruly, or aggressive. They can be attacked and injured. They can get sick or be killed. Ultimately, disobedience leads to unhappy circumstances for everyone involved.
Over time, tasty rewards, repetition, and reinforcement brought about learning with my springer spaniel. This led to the freedom to be off-leash to fulfill the purpose of a bird dog—searching a wide-open field and finding and retrieving downed birds. And what a joy that is to see! Leaping through tall grass, ears flying, tail wagging, nose to the ground, and an excitement that is best described as exuberant.
Putting a leash back on in some circumstances is warranted, but a trust and bond have been created so that most time is now spent off-leash, responding to verbal and hand signals. Continued practice and reminders keep that bond strong and consistent.
In our reading today, Paul explains that we are servants or slaves to whatever or whomever we obey, including our own desires and natures. Before I was a chaplain, I worked as a counselor for many years in the area of substance use disorders, and I have family members who have struggled with unhealthy attachments. Paul’s statement about slavery to sin, which pulls us away from God’s will and purpose for our lives, is as real today as it was in Paul’s time.
More important, though, is the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ. As we learn about who Jesus is, why he died, and what he accomplished with his resurrection, we learn that we have been given a gift that no one can give us except God. We are united to Christ in an unbreakable bond. Because of that bond, Paul reminds us that we should then consider ourselves dead to living by our own personal preferences and desires.
When we fully live into God’s way and purpose, “we are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity, and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations that used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves” (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 83-84).
We share a death like Jesus died, but we also experience new life! We are invited to practice God’s way of living. We can fully trust his love, grace, patience, forgiveness, redemption, and peace. We are “off-leash” and can fully live into God’s purpose for our lives.
Reflection:
- What or whom do you obey?
- To what or whom are you enslaved?
- How does obeying God’s way of living show up in your life?