*The final in our series. I’m fairly certain I’ve run the dog analogy into the ground.
Belle the basset hound is sweet. Sweet, sad eyes, and sweet when she curls around my feet while I read. She is also sweetly devoted, and even drags her mat under the kitchen table to be closer to the kids.
She couldn’t possibly be any sweeter.
However. She is also a few other things, in addition to sweet. Like smelly, for instance. With that great scent-hound nose, I don’t know how she stands herself. We call her Stinkerbell with good reason. Belle is loud, too. LOUD. The dog books call it a “melodious” bark, but I’d say it’s more like the unreliable range of an adolescent boy, with the volume of a 4-year-old at Chuck E. Cheese. And what about her hair? On a daily basis, I sweep up enough dog hair to make another puppy. I find hair on the piano, hair in my laptop, even hair when I open my books.
I don’t do well with hair.
Belle is messy and tiresome and costly. So why in the world do we have her? Because she’s sweet, and we love her. And really, she’s worth it.
Isn’t it the same with human relationships? Friendships can get messy, marriages take a lot of time and effort, and frankly, many people I know aren’t half as sweet as Belle.
But it’s still worth it. People are worth it. At least, they’re worth it to God, and if I want to follow Him, then people must be worth it to me, too. Jesus paid an enormous expense—His very life—because God loves people that much. Messy, ungrateful, sinful people. (Like me.)
A prayer: God, thank You that I am worth it to You. Thank You for lavishing me with Your great love. Help me to love ______________, even though it isn’t easy. I can love since You loved me. _____________ is worth it to me, since I am worth it to You. Amen.
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