A Man On A Leash

I saw something that I’ve never seen before as I had a coffee at Starbucks last night. Just as I was sitting down I saw a couple walking down the sidewalk. For the most part they looked like any other couple. The first thing that made them stand out was that he was carrying a purse that matched her outfit. That struck me as a bit odd, but he’s not the first man I’ve seen carrying a woman’s purse

As they got closer, I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me and that I really should book an eye appointment soon, but as they got closer what I thought I saw was confirmed. He was wearing a dog collar and she had him on a leash.

Apparently I’ve been a dog owner for too long because my first thought when I realized what was going on was …. Nice leash!! My second thought was WOW! He sure heels a lot better than Zoe does! My third thought was ‘If they were in Langford instead of Victoria, he could be off leash…” (The city of Langford doesn’t require you to have your dog on a leash, only that it be under control and this guy looked pretty well behaved....)

For some of you the thought of a man being led around on a leash is appealing. For others, the thought is mortifying. The thought that comes to me as I write this is that there are people all around you and me who are being led around in the same way that the young man I saw tonight was.

Some are led by selfish desires, some by sinful desires, some by the desire to get ahead, some by the desire to be noticed and seen. Some people allow themselves to be led around in the hope that they will find security, love, identity, or acceptance.

Whatever the case may be in their lives or more importantly in your life, the reality is that is that Jesus makes the very bold statement that ‘He who the Son sets free is free indeed!’ That’s tremendously exciting and liberating. It’s also the only way we can truly live.

We’ve got some great dog walking areas near our house. Zoe usually gets a walk once a day. Because we live on a busy road, we walk her on a retractable leash. It’s not as nice as the one I mentioned earlier, but it does permit her greater freedom. While she gets excited when she sees the leash or hears the word ‘walk’, when we let her off the leash when we get to the park her first response is to run up a hill, down a trail or into the bushes. I think a lot of us respond to being truly free in that same way. We discover new things, new heights and a fresh way of living.

There’s a verse in the Psalms where David writes “I will run in the paths of your commands because you have set my heart free.” Every time I see Zoe run off leash, I’m reminded of that verse, but even more reminded that God intends the same thing for you and me.

Have a good one!