Frenchie's Bone

 

Our daughter brought Frenchie, our 10-month-old Bichon, a mixed-flavored bone. Frenchie loves it. After a while chewing and licking it, he decided to hide it. When he disappeared from the living room, I went to go check on him – we still don’t trust that he is 100% house-trained. I found him in my study near some blankets I’d left on the floor.

I guessed what he’d done. I lifted the blankets – and there it was.

But I’d spoiled his hiding place. So, he snatched his bone with his mouth and marched out of the room. He spent the next little bit wandering the downstairs once again to find a new hiding spot.

Silly dog. As if I wanted his saliva-drenched bone for myself. As I write this, fifteen minutes later, Frenchie is napping at my feet – without the bone. I guess he found a suitable place to hide it from me.

St. James tells us: “Every good thing given, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17). And St. Paul tells us: “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).

Of course, whatever we have, God has given us. But do you ever find yourself selfishly holding on to your ‘bones’ – your money, your family, your prestige, your authority, your power, your . . . . as if they are yours by your own prowess and intelligence and hard work?

Such a silly attitude reminds me of what the Lord said to Israel through Moses:

“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God . . . [and] say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 8:11-18).

 

Christian – be careful. Has not life yet taught us how easily we can forget Whose we are and to Whom we belong? And that He freely and gladly and graciously gives to His beloved all they need?