Faithful Friend or Barking Beast?

Do you ever have one of those moments where you look back and wish you would have paid more attention? Well, I had a doozy of one last night. Here in the Eastern U.S., it’s getting dark earlier, the air has turned down right chilly at night, and the eminence of winter is further evidenced by the almost icy rain that drizzled all yesterday, falling upon leaves of various autumn hues.
Now that the scene is properly set, and you can feel the frost nipping your exposed nose, your toes are curling in your warm, fleecy socks and you can see the ice crystals from your breath dancing before your eyes each time you exhale, take a step inside and warm yourself. For, last night, I was not outside doing battle against the change of seasons, but curled happily with our children on warm, comfy furniture, watching a musical - after having consumed a warm and satisfying meal.
The culprit of our story is our poor German Shepherd, Sasha. She seemed intent last night on barking and whining at the sliding glass door. The first few times I would turn on the back spotlight and let her out. She would dutifully run to the end of our property where the woods start and run back and forth barking. After her barking stopped, she would sniff around a little, mark her territory, and come back in the house. Each time this would happen, we would:
stop the show
let her out
look for some intruder
wait a bit
call her back in
wipe her muddy paws
and resume the movie
....only to get back up in a minute or two and repeat the whole process!
This went on several times, till finally, all of us irritated at the continuous pausing of our entertainment, and not seeing anything ourselves, began to ignore Sasha’s whines and barks and pleas to be let out. When that didn’t work, we told her to be quiet. Eventually, she dejectedly contented herself to lying on the rug staring out the window with only an occasional whine.
Now this morning, oh how I wish we would have been diligent in listening to her warnings. Though we know it’s the time of year our large, black, furry friends go on a food frenzy before winter finally takes hold of the hills, we ignored all the signs that we might revel in our pleasures without disturbance. And this morning, we paid the price. The garbage that had accumulated during the week and was ready to go to the dump this very day was scattered in the yard, and we were left with piles of “souvenirs”.
There’s always a lesson in all of nature to be learnt if we will but listen and learn. So take heed you who read. You know it is coming. The signs are all there. Be not caught up in the pleasures of this dying world. For all that is of this world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is passing away. Be not caught unawares or unprepared as the virgins with no oil when the bridegroom came. Stand firm and faint not...for our Saviour, our God, our King is returning. Will you be ready?
Come LORD, Jesus, come!