When Juno whelped, one pup stood out. He was almost twice the size of the rest of the litter. Kodiac grew rapidly. Even among his Malamute siblings, dogs that are supposed to be huge, his size was spectacular and his strength a problem in polite society. On the tundra, pulling a sled, it would have been an asset. On the end of a leash it was hard to tell who was taking whom for a walk. He took off at a trot, his owner stretched out behind, like a shirt on a clothesline blowing in a brisk breeze. We inherited him because we had lots of room, lived in the country, and had a dog kennel that, strengthened with cattle panels, might hold a Malamute weighing well over a hundred pounds.
The first time I exercised him, he hit the end of the leash with a lunge and drug me about ten feet, before I stopped him and explained, as politely as I could, that he was the dog and I was the man and that “Man leads dog” not the other way around. Since then, we both enjoy our walk of about a mile each night. He handles on the leash about like a well-broken horse does on the rein. I think, really, he likes it better this way. And I know I do. When I praise him, it puts a little more spring in his walk and a smile (it looks like a smile!) on his face. He looks into my face adoringly as if to say, “You’re the man!”
In the book of first John verse 9 the Bible says, “Every one who transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.” In translating “parabainon,” the word here rendered “transgresses,” some translations say, “Goes beyond.” At least one translation says, “Takes the lead.” The idea certainly is that when we attempt to become the leader instead of the follower of God, we sin and we “have not God and His Son.”
In His infinite knowledge, wisdom, and power God has done those things that are best for us and instructed us on how to worship and live. He is God, the Creator. We are men, His creation. Faith requires that we trust Him to tell us what is best for us whether we understand it or not. Like Kodiak, we are happier, even now, and assuredly eternally, when we let Him be our leader.
Bro Boyce
