Who Loves Puppies

Who loves puppies?

14 months ago our family decided to extend our love and care to adopt a rescue dog. A few months earlier we started to follow a local Facebookacebook site in the hopes of adopting a dog. To my excitement, 4 puppies became available. We couldn’t believe it! When do puppies become available? They couldn’t tell us what the full breed of the dog was but part of it was definitely a dachshund. I have always wanted a dascheund (Wiener dog). After many searches on Google for mixed breeds we figured out that the other half is Black lab…. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Black Lab + Dascheund? We were so excited to bring this bundle of joy into our home and named him Wallace (Wally for short). 

One thing we never fully anticipated was his high energy, zeal for life. He is always wanting to play and move which has never subsided so I’ve tried my best to walk him in the morning and before he goes to bed. One of the many things I appreciate about him is that he PLAYS HARD and RESTS HARD. When Wally gets put in his crate around 830pm he sleeps solid till he hears my footsteps in the morning. Rest is important for him and his owners.

We have just started a new series based on renewal, this week I shared about the renewal of my soul and the importance of rest. Rest is to have a “peace, ease, refreshment.” To relax is to be loose or less firm, to have a milder manner.

Rest is first mentioned in the creation story in Genesis 2. “One the seventh day God had finished his work of creation so he rested. God didn’t do this because he actually needed physical rest but he did this to help set the standard for us to follow. Even The 10 commandments made sabbath a part of fulfilling the law.

A lot of times people say rest is an excuse to be lazy but that’s the wrong way to look at it, rest is a form of trust. Do you trust only in yourself to make all things happen? Can you control everything around you? The answer is no. We worry about so many things that our not under our control, but when we rest we are trusting God to take care of things for us. 

Rest is a form of trust. 

In Matthew 11:28-30 28, Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. How many of you today are weary and burdened? 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that fits over an oxen or an ox. It is attached to a piece of equipment the oxen are to pull. As humans, we carry some heavy burdens of unrealistic expectations, insults, persecution, weariness, etc. But Jesus frees people of all these burdens. The rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with Him

You may ASK: How is Jesus’ yoke easy?

The yoke in this scripture emphasizes our daily challenges. All of our responsibilities and challenges weigh us down and even the pressures of trying to be good followers of Jesus are at times too much. Jesus doesn’t offer us a luxurious life of no pain and no issue but He’s saying to you, I will be with you, cast your burdens on me because I care for you (1 Peter 5:7).

What are your burdens and anxieties today? Give them to Jesus, share them with your friends, read God’s word, pray. Email me anytime at trevor@cpclife.com if you would like me to pray for you.

Praying for you today.

In Christ, Pastor Trevor