The dachshund and the medal
In my quiet time, impressions come to me time and again like short film clips. This time I saw a young wire-haired dachshund walking towards me. It had the ribbon of a medal in its mouth and was dragging it along the ground behind it. A medal like the ones athletes receive around their necks when they win.
What is the dachshund doing with the medal? And, God, what are you trying to tell me?
The film clip then continued: The dachshund dropped the medal and stood and peed on it!
At first I had to laugh. Then I set about finding out what this impression meant. I really love how Jesus talks to me. He doesn’t hide the meaning of such images from me, but for me! And I love pursuing them and understanding them.
So, what is the dachshund trying to point out to me? What does it stand for?
It is bred to chase foxes and other wild animals out of their burrows and into the light so that the hunter can shoot them. There is a passage in the Bible that came to mind about foxes, it is in the Song of Solomon:
Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that ruin vineyards. Our vineyards are blooming. Song of Solomon 2:15
According to my study Bible, this is an analogy to the fact that the lovers in the Songs of Solomon should remove things from their relationship that could spoil their blossoming love. And my Passion Translation says that the foxes are compromises in our hearts that stand between us and Jesus. It also says that the foxes hinder or even destroy the growth of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in us!
The medal on the other hand is a symbol of recognition and honor from other people.
People are honored and recognized by other people for their great achievements. Many people see this, cheer and look up to these athletes. Imagine what these athletes do to get them!
In summary, the dachshund brings compromises and lies to light. If he now pees on the medal, he says quite clearly and bluntly what he thinks of the recognition of people. Not good for my love for Jesus and not good for the fruits of the Spirit!
This means for me that recognition or praise from people is too important to me. The compromises I make when recognition is so important devastate the fruits of the Holy Spirit in me. As a reminder, the fruits are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are damaged when I need the approval of others too much. I find that quite hard and I don’t want that!
I sometimes suffer when I don’t get the approval of the people around me! That is human, but too much of it is not healthy. How do you feel about it? Do you seek recognition from people? Do you also do things that, if you’re honest, go against the grain for you? Where your inner voice or your inner values say, “I don’t want to do that at all!” Where I have the wrong motivation or even grieve Jesus because I crave people’s approval. That goes against my purpose, against my faith, against my identity.
I want to become more like Jesus, and I don’t want the fruits of the Spirit within me ruined. How wonderful that they are growing, I rejoice in that! Once again I’m reminded that I always have the love of Jesus and I can get a refill anytime I want. When I come to him, I get filled until it overflows.
I’m sharing this impression here in the blog because maybe you are someone who is affected by this too. Do you do stuff for the approval of people around you, that you don’t want to do? If so, this is an invitation from Jesus, to let go of the fear of people and let him fill you so that the fruits of the Spirit can grow unhindered!
