I have the best grand-dog in the world. Axel. Is. The. Best. He’s very fluffy and sweet. And he is smart. Really smart.
On our recent Mount Magazine State Park trip, we were able to take Axel with us. I asked my son Jake, Axel’s dad, if Axel was ever a bad dog. Jake said, “Oh yeah!” Grandma (me) said, “What? How is that angel-dog bad?” Jake said sometimes Axel whines and sometimes he begs for table food. (Horrors!) And then Jake said, “Sometimes he ‘breaks heel’!”
Ha ha! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Here I was thinking bad-dog sins like tearing up furniture, or getting into the trash, pooping on the floor or killing chickens…I could go on and on! But no! Axel’s great sin was “breaking heel.” Wow. What a bad dog!
But as I thought about Axel and his alleged faults, I thought about breaking heel. And there was something good there.
To heel is to stay with the master. To walk by his side. Not out in front. Not lagging behind. At the master’s side. To heel is to not run off after squirrels or frisbees, all willy-nilly doing whatever feels good. The dog heels and listens for the next command from his master.
Are we heeling or breaking heel spiritually speaking? Are we listening for our Master’s instructions? There’s a lot of squirrels and shiny objects out there just screaming for our attention. Will we stay walking by His side or will we go off on our own?
I’ma just gonna say it. Breaking heel with Jesus? It’s just stupid. When will we ever learn that? When Axel breaks heel he’s in TROU-ble! And well, so are we.
I’m sure human grandkids will someday teach me some lessons, but for now, Axel my little love, has taught me a good one!