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When I lived in north Louisiana, I made a point of being in front of the TV early weekday mornings to catch the five minute devotion by Pastor Bill Dye who pastors North Monroe Baptist. He has such a way of looking at ordinary things and extracting the spiritual lessons from them in such an extraordinary way. His spiritual points are like gold nuggets to carry around all day. My favorite was the one about dog food which went like this:

Pastor Bill's dog took a dislike to dry dog food. Just wouldn't eat it. So he got the idea to buy some nice, juicy canned dog food. Her ears perked up at the sound of the can opener and as soon as that food hit her bowl, she dived into with a gusto that would rival the hungriest of bears. When he came close to the bowl, she got this mean look in her eye and actually snarled at sweet Pastor Bill, like she was saying, "Don't you dare come near my food. Don't you dare try to take it away from me!"

Why would he take it away? He went to the store and bought the food, opened the can, dumped the food in. Bill Dye doesn't eat dog food. Dog food does not sustain Bill Dye. Dog food doesn’t even taste good to Bill Dye. He loves his dog and takes very good care of her. After going to all the trouble of going to the store specifically to buy the food, to open the can, to place it in her bowl, he would never, ever take it back. Why couldn’t she understand that?

After all that, I couldn’t imagine what the spiritual truth was to this little vignette. Then he said something so striking when he said that God shone a light on that moment, "Bill, it's all dog food to Me."

Perhaps it isn’t so surprising to you that I have never contemplated that thought before. I doubt you have chewed on it recently, either.

It is all dog food to God. He created us, His good and most excellent, fragile creation. He created the world and all that is in the universe. He provided all the ingredients for us to survive in abundant living with not only delicious, juicy food, but also the universe around us filled with amazing discoveries to exercise our brains. Once the home was created, Man sinned. Then, God sent His Son to pay the bride price so sin would no longer make us slaves... the Law would have no claim on us... death has no sting. God showers on those that love Him all manner of blessings from basic needs to deep desires and those blessings spill over onto those that have no regard for Him.

Knowing that He is the Great I AM, the King of the Universe, we still grab onto all our stuff with a death grip and snarl at God when He draws near.

Bill Dye quoted Corrie Ten Boom: Don't hold on to your things with such a tight grip that it hurts when God has to pry your fingers loose. (loose paraphrase)

We so often lose sight of the bald fact, it's all dog food to God.

"God's Words For US" from Cecelia Lester

Renew a Right Spirit