My Dog Sometimes Agrees With Me

By Ray Ortlund:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

How can I tell if my trust in the Lord is wholehearted? One way is this. Do I let the Bible overrule my own thinking? It says, “Do not lean on your own understanding.” So, do I agree with the Bible, or do I obey the Bible? My dog sometimes agrees with me, but she never obeys me. If I merely agree with the Bible, then my positive response to it is not obedience but coincidence. The Bible just happens to line up with the prejudices I’ve soaked up from my culture. But what do I do when the Bible contradicts what I want to be true? If I’m looking in the Bible for excuses for what I want anyway, my heart has already drifted from the Lord. But if I trust him wholeheartedly, I will let the Bible challenge my most cherished thoughts and feelings.

The wonderful thing is, the Lord loves to be consulted. He cares about my questions and problems, and yours. He wants to speak into our lives in ways that really help. Okay.