Off the Leash

My wife has had a Yorkie for a couple of years now. He is a sweet dog, but not nearly as well trained as a German dog should be. I have seen Germans walking their dogs in crowded malls with hundreds of people milling around with no need for a leash. The dogs here heel perfectly, keeping an eye on their owners at all times.

Jack is not that sort of dog. When we take him out, he is at the end of however much leash we will give him. He nearly chokes himself trying to greet every other dog, pole and person he sees.

At a retreat a couple of weeks ago with no other dogs or cars to worry about, I decided to take him out without a leash. Amazingly, without the leash, he was that dog! He never took his eye off me. When he strayed to far from my heel, a mere grunt from me would snap him right back to me. It was the most amazing experience I have ever had walking a dog. It seems that when he has the leash he knows that he can’t lose me, so he focuses on everything around him except me. Off the leash, he knows he has to watch me or he might get lost.

It struck me that the Christian walk is a lot like that. When Paul argues for Christian freedom and walking in the spirit and not being legalistic he might have had a similar situation in mind. When we are under the law—on the leash—we test the limits and walk at the edge. We want to see how far we can stray without getting totally lost. When we are set free from the law in Christ, we are a different creature. There is no longer any artificial attachment to God. We are free to go where we want, but we stay closer to Him. Maybe we better appreciate the fear of the Lord. It is like walking a tightrope without a net. We know we need to keep our eyes on Him to see where we need to go.