Linda and I have a dog named Stitches. We both crochet, and he’s funny enough to keep us in stitches. He’s a twice-rescued dog, too. The kennel where we acquired him found him wandering in the wild, cleaned him up, groomed him, got him his shots, and found a family to take him in. A month or two later they found a dog wandering in the wild. When they got him cleaned up they recognized him. Weeks later we took him home and he’s been with us for more than a decade.
He craves attention. When someone comes to the house he hasn’t seen in a while he rushes to them like a long lost friend. That goes for us, too, when we’ve spent too much time away - like that hour when we took FOREVER on our shopping trip. He gets under foot, and if we’re not careful we might accidentally step on his feet, or trip on him.
That’s really bad in the stairway. We’ve trained him to stay off the steps when a person is using them. We don’t want a guest falling. Linda and I are both careful, making adjustments so it’s not an issue those times he’s too eager. But when my parents come over it’s important Stitches doesn’t use the stairs when they are.
I’m pretty sure Stitches doesn’t understand why he has to wait. He just knows he’s supposed to stay in the entry until everyone else is upstairs. We say, “Okay,” and there’s a streak if white nearly breaking the sound barrier, so he can be with all those interesting folks upstairs.
Likewise, God has given us instructions.
Back in the day He said, “Don’t eat pork.” There were probably a lot of different reasons for that, and I’m pretty sure one of them had to do with getting sick if it’s not cooked thoroughly. The people of the day didn’t know about microorganisms, so trying to explain that wouldn’t have been helpful. So God simply said, “Stay off the steps.”
Much of what God told those ancient Hebrews to do went against what the common culture believed. In retrospect, however, it was pretty smart not to eat raw pork.
God said His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts aren’t our thoughts. Looking at it logically, doesn’t it make sense that Someone who knows everything would have a better understanding than we do?
The bible isn’t in a popularity contest. People don’t get to vote on which parts can be ignored. God knows more than we do, so when He says, “Don’t do that,” or, “Do this other thing,” consider that.
When He says, “Okay,” you can be sure it’s safe to climb the stairs now, despite having to wait.
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