IT’S A TAD UNSETTLING that no matter what I say in my weekday blog about God or the Bible, when I post the blog link on my Facebook page, it attracts only a pittance of the hits that I’ll get when I post photos of dogs in my family.
I’m thinking I need to get more dogs.
Or maybe take some continuing education classes in writing.
If we billed God, the Bible, and our dogs as starring attractions in a show on Broadway, the sign would have to read:
Starring: THE DOG
Also appearing: God and the Bible
I like dogs as much as the next guy.
I don’t kick them.
I don’t even get upset when Buddy the Dog steals one of my shoes and goes on his wild run throughout the house. I just say, “I’ll buy it back.” He brings it to me and I give him a treat.
Dogs are cute. Some are irresistible. I get it.
But cuter than God? More irresistible than God? I don’t get it.
The dog poops in our back yard, if we’re lucky. God gives us eternal life, guaranteed (John 3:16).
As I thought about this, I got to wondering what the Bible had to say about dogs. So I looked it up.
It’s not good.
- “Am I some Judean dog to be kicked around?” (2 Samuel 3:8 NLT).
- “Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body” (1 Kings 21:23).
- “My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs” (Psalm 22:16).
- “Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied” (Isaiah 56:11).
- “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness” (Proverbs 26:11).
I couldn’t find one Bible reference that might inspire a poet to write a lyric anything like this.
“How much is that doggy in the window?
The one with the waggily tail.
How much is that doggy in the window?
I do hope that doggy’s for sale.”
Anyone in the Bible shelling out a shekel for a dog wouldn’t have been buying it for Sissy’s Bat Mitzvah.
They’d have been buying it to sic it on Jezebel.
Or, if they were Philistines, they’d have been buying it for supper. Archaeologists digging in Philistine ruins have found dog bones with butcher marks. No such thing in ruins of Jewish towns. Dogs weren’t kosher.
Still, God made dogs.
Now that I have one—and think kindly of him nesting at my feet as I type this—I find myself wondering if God is attracted to dogs, too.
What if God has a dog?
If he does, I very much wonder what he named it.
Eternity would be far too long if he named it Steve.
In my opinion, dogs get a lot of attention because they are a good representation of God on earth. They are good listeners and friendly, exhibiting unconditional love and non-verbal understanding. They growl when picked on, bark to get your attention, and bite infrequently. We can see ourselves in them too – getting into trouble, taking a long time to train, and never giving up but trying again to get more snuggles, another walk, or more treats.
Let’s think this out logically. Dogs are loyal, so is God. Dogs love us unconditionally, so does God. Dogs protect us, so does God. Dogs bring us things we need, like shoes (sometimes), so does God. And if we’re dyslexic, dog reversed spells God. I see a connection. Have a great day loving on Buddy the Dog and his cousin, and God too! 😉