what makes me different from my dog

Sometimes I look at my pet dog, Chocolate, and wonder about his life. His days pretty much consist of eating and sleeping. I’d say he's either sleeping or laying on the floor for about 75% of any given day. And eating… Well, he loves food. Not so much the dog food that we give him every morning, but human food. He lives for human food. Anytime I’m eating something, no matter what it is, he sits by my feet waiting, anticipating a crumb on the floor or the occasional, intentional gifting of a piece of whatever it is I’m munching on. And it's times like that I feel like that’s all he really has to live for – a piece of popcorn that happens to fall on the kitchen floor.


But lately I’ve been thinking, what is it that really makes me any different from my dog? I mean, of course I have the ability to read and write and sing and dance. I have relationships with family and friends. And yes, I have goals and ambitions and accomplishments and honors.

But, truthfully, I could easily live my whole life carrying myself just like my dog does. Maybe I can’t sleep for the majority of the day, but there are certainly other ways I can live completely driven by my own selfish impulses. See, my dog is simply doing what he knows how to do. Preserve himself. To make himself happy. To seek all the pleasures he can while he’s here on this earth. Completely driven by his emotions.

So the question is, am I any different?

Well, thankfully, God made a crucial distinction between humans and animals. Although some just like to claim that we’re the most civilized beings on this planet, there’s something much more special about us – we each have a spirit. In fact, we’re spiritual beings at the core. Now, this doesn’t discredit the (evident) fact that we have desires and impulses just like animals do – to eat, sleep, and do plenty of other things. But the truth is – we’re spiritual creatures, whether you like it or not.

And we were created that way so that we could commune with God. Flesh and bones alone don’t interact with God because God is Spirit. That’s why we’re called to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. And, thankfully, God came to earth in human form and died so that we could do that – so that our spirits could be re-united with God. Though we come this earth spiritually dead, Christ died to make us alive again.

So, back to my question. Although I am certainly capable of being driven by my own impulses, I desire to be in touch with my spirit. Why? Because since I decided to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ, He transformed my spirit with a personal delivery of His Spirit. Now I’m one spirit with Him, the God who created me.

“But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.”
1 Corinthians 6:17 (NIV)

And yes, I could still choose to grieve the Spirit in me, and serve myself and live according to my selfish desires and emotions... just like my dog. But I’d rather not. God gave me a way out of that mess, and I’m all for it.

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Galatians 5:16-25 (NIV)

And to tell you the truth, I'm excited about this life on earth and part two in heaven. I love my God and with Him, I have everything I need. I have a reason to live and I have the Spirit to keep me on track. Seems I don't really have that much in common with Chocolate after all. That's fine. I still love him too. :)