There is an old saying about biting the hand that feeds us, and while this is not literally true in our case, we do have two new dogs at our house who have not yet accepted us. Our dog died recently and these two dogs were owned by an elderly lady who passed away, and so we were asked to give them a new home.

Hosea speaking of Israel says, ”I called... but the more I called, the further they went from me.” ”I had bent down to feed them.” (Hosea 1 1 NEB.). These two dogs refuse to come when we call, yet they eat the food we give them. We have prepared a warm bed which they accept as their own, yet they have little to do with us. Our new dogs have accepted their surroundings as belonging to them, yet they do not acknowledge the ones who have provided them their new home.

Our two dogs are so very much like us. God has provided us with all we have, yet how many people eat their food without ever giving a thought to the fact that all we have has come from Him. How many crawl beneath the warm covers at night and never acknowledge that God provides sleep to refresh the soul. Day and night, warm and cold, the rain and the sunshine are all provided by a loving Father who knows that we have need of all these things.

People are so much like our dogs. They accept the things given them and even feel possessive of the very things provided by others without even a ”thank you!” Of course, in the case of our dogs, this is understandable since they are ”dumb animals” and cannot be expected to know the circumstances that caused them to belong to us. In our case, God gave us minds with which we can reason and we should know that we were made in His image and our sole purpose in life is to glorify His Name. So many continue to act as if they are the master of their own destiny and ignore the One who created them.

Our dogs do not know us yet, and when we try to give them love they become frightened and run the other way. How many people do not know God and try to run away from Him when He wants us to come to Him. We cannot force our dogs to love us but no doubt in time this will occur as they become accustomed to being around us. In our case, God is not visible so we will continue to be afraid and unloving if we do not take the necessary steps to get acquainted. Time is on our side with our dogs because they will learn by being around us that we really do love them and care for their needs. Time can be on our side when it comes to God, but only if we spend our time getting to know Him and learning how He loves us and takes care of our needs. God challenges us through Malachi saying ”Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Hosea asks us to ”turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.” ”Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? Prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.”