Devotionals

The Dangers of Breaking God's Love Leash

by Randy Foncree
02/23/21
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The Dangers of Breaking God's Love Leash

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom the Father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. (Hebrews 12:5-8 NKJV)

     Dogs can sometimes be very difficult to train. Some of a dogs training entails using a leash. A leash restrains the animal from doing whatever, or going wherever they want. Our dog Bailey has a very difficult time concentrating. And he has a tendency to run to and fro, wherever he pleases. The leash restrains his activities. Sometimes when he's extra hyper, he'll try to pull the leash right out of our hand. One time he even broke the leash, and we had a terrible time running him down. If we said it once, we said it a hundred times, “THIS DOG NEEDS TO GO TO DOG OBEDIENCE SCHOOL!”

     Aren't we like Bailey at times, running here and there, full of unbridled zeal that needs to be tamed? I've often said, “Having unbridled zeal is as dangerous as racing a horse that had never been broken.” It’s true, because as a new believer, I thought I was doing such a work for God. I was into everything, but accomplishing very little, because I was running aimless and had not set goals on what I was trying to accomplish for God. I believe that everyone who gets saved, God puts on a love leash, just like we did Bailey. God's love leash is discipline, by which we are trained to walk in God's will, and not our own. God is only in things He ordained, and not what we think up in our own minds. Don't get me wrong, God will lay things on our heart, but we have to wait on His timing and discipline to fulfill it.

     One of the reasons we put a leash on Bailey, is so he wouldn't run into the street and get hurt or killed, or do his business in someone else's yard. You ever look at people who are in prison, or lost everything they had because of their own reckless living? They may have been on fire for God at one time, and even serving Him. But because they broke God's love leash, they ended up in a very bad way. If our dog Bailey breaks his leash, runs in the street, and gets hit by a car, it wasn't us that caused that to happen. Bailey had all the protection in that leash that we provided for his protection. When we face consequences because of our reckless and sinful living, it wasn't God who put on us the consequences of our actions. Many people face bankruptcy because of spending more than they make. Others face divorce or a sexually transmitted disease because of their lack of control of their carnal desires. Still others face prison because they can't say no to crime. There is real danger in breaking God's love leash. If we allow God through the Holy Spirit to train us, then we stand a better chance of becoming whom God created us to be.

     Another reason we keep Bailey on a leash, it so he knows just how far he can go, without feeling a tug-a-war over who's going to control the leash. It's also so he can learn restraint. God wants us to trust Him to guide and lead where He wants us to be. When we tug at God's love leash too much, sometimes God has to snap us back to get our attention. He doesn't do this to hurt us, but to keep us from making a mistake because of our unwillingness to follow His lead. It is human nature to want to do our own thing, but God wants to exchange our nature for His. When we are born again, we become a new creation. Old things are passed away. It's no longer about us doing our own thing, and expecting God to bless it, it's about allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. That's where we find freedom.

     Our pastor said in a sermon one time that there is tremendous peace being in the center of God's perfect and divine will. Believers who break God's love leash can't experience that to the fullest. So the solution is listen to God, be sure you're going in His direction and not your own, and be sure His blessing is on whatever you are trying to accomplish. Let us seek, find, and fulfill the direction and destiny that God designed for our life since before the foundation of the world. That's the only way to true peace and freedom.