Stay on the Leash

Read: Proverbs 1:24-33

Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Proverbs 19:20 

     When I was six years old, we had a little black mutt named Tacky. That was one of the most hyper dogs I think I have ever seen.  Each morning before school, my brother and I had the responsibility of taking him out to the back yard and tying him up on the leash. Tacky never wanted to be hooked to the leash so he always did his best to get away. Since he was too short to jump the fence, he was never able to get far.

      One morning, however, as my brother was hooking him up in the yard, Tacky jerked away and took off like he had always wanted. But that morning was different. The gate at the back of the yard had been left open. Tacky darted through that open gate, and we never saw him again. I don’t know if he was hit by a car or if someone else picked him up, but either way, he was no longer under the watchful care and supervision of the family that had spent so much time looking out for him and taking care of his needs.

      So many young people are just like Tacky. They see the rules and regulations placed upon them by their parents as nothing more than a hindrance to their happiness or as a way to keep them from having any fun in life. In actuality, those rules are there to protect them from the many things that they don’t even know are trying to destroy them. From the safe confines of the backyard, I’m sure Tacky never realized all the dangers from cars or predators; he just always wanted to get away. He didn’t realize that those boundaries and that leash he was desperately trying to move away from were there to protect him.

     Though you may not see it now, God has given you your parents to protect you from the evils that they know are out there. Instead of pushing against them, realize that they are there for your own good. To push against the rules, and to eventually break away from them could at the very least cause a lot of heartache for you later on, and could ultimately lead to the absolute destruction of your life.

     Stay on the leash. Though it may not always be fun, it is there to protect you.

 

Quote of the day: “Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present.”                                                                         –Italian proverb