"That's Not Food"

This phrase is one that I have had to repeat to Foster over the years. Often. As he's now totally blind, he still hears it. Tilly also seems to be a bit of an omnivore.

An example of what is NOT food:

Toads. Toads are not food.

Recently, Jimmy, a Great Dane Mix puppy (yes, he's a BIG puppy!) mistook a toad for food. His owners, unaware of his alternative culinary interest, witnessed Jimmy foaming at the mouth, flipping around, and all around nuttiness. Being Googling fools, they Googled the symptoms and figured out what may have happened. Soon, Jimmy came down from whatever weird toad trip he took.

What happened next? Jimmy went out, and went right back to the toad. This time, the owners were able to prevent a repeat incident. Still the next day, Jimmy went back, looking for the now absent toad.

Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly."

Will WE ever learn? Honestly, are we that different from Jimmy?

How often do we go back to our bad habits, even though we suffered difficult consequences? Are you strong enough to break the pattern?

I'm not. There have been plenty of times when I've had to pray like a crazed toad-licking dog to ask the Lord to give me HIS strength, since my own is so completely inadequate. It's humbling, to recognize my own weakness.

Yet in other ways, realizing I can't do it can be a relief. The battle is not mine to fight if I can lean on God to do it for me. Now, if I could only stay away from that bag of Oreos...

What about you? What's eating you? Or what are you consuming that is getting you further away from God and not drawing you close? He's never far away from you, just turn back.

Fighting an un-winable battle can leave you dry. As dry as this frog. You don't want that now do you?