Giving the Dog a Bath

When you give a dog a bath, the first thing he does, when you let him loose, is to go find the strongest smelling mess in the area and roll around in it. It's built-in to him, it's the way he's designed. He desires to cover his own clean scent with a strong smell that can hide him from "prey". The good news is that he can be trained out of it.

I remind myself of a dog that's been bathed. It often seems, that no sooner that I have experienced some awesome spiritual experience, but that I find myself wallowing in some old familiar sin. Unlike the dog, this is not how I was originally designed. This is the years of living in sin, and the old bad habits showing through. Perhaps it is an attempt to "blend-in" with the world. The Good News is that I am free to follow a different path.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. (Romans 12:1-3 NLT)