The Dog Ate My Christmas Cookies
I have a dog whose name is Sam. He is a black cocker spaniel and is not the brightest bulb on the tree . . . or so I thought! During the few weeks of summer that we have up here in Minnesota, he is mostly outdoors. He loves to run and chase anything that moves in the backyard. We have one of those doggie doors and he can come and go as he pleases. In the winter months, we close the doggie door and he stays inside . . . except for walks and potty breaks!
The other evening it began to snow and I decided to get a jump on "shoveling" our drive way. I had eaten dinner and my wife and set out some cookies that she and my granddaughter, Jaidyn, had made over the weekend. I ate one and left the others on a table in the living room. They were high enough that Sam could not reach them . . . at least I believed he could not reach them. When I came back inside, ready to warm up with a cup of hot chocalote and the rest of my Christmas cookies, I noticed a napkin on the floor in the living room . . . and nothing else! My cookies were gone, not even a crumb was left. Sam sat in a corner with a look that said, "what's going on?" Apparently, he had climbed up on the back of a chair and SNATCHED my Christmas Cookies! I could only dream of what might have been.
In the same way, I wonder how often we carelessly leave something "out in the open" only to be SNATCHED by our enemy? Yeah! that enemy . . . Satan. Maybe we don't realize he can reach it or don't think he is even paying any attention to us. But we get lazy or reckless with our well being. It may be an unguarded moment, an angry reaction, a thoughtless word, or an unintentional mistake. However, it is like my Christmass Cookies left in a place where they can be stolen, something . . . or someone SNATCHES those moments, actions, words, or errors and trust is broken, confidence wanes, or discipline is forgotten.
Sam reminded me to "guard my heart and my mind." Like it says in 1 Peter 5:8 & 9, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith . . ." Perhaps he is also like a certain black cocker spaniel who is waiting in the wings for me to carelessly leave my cookies unguarded!
