The Call of the Wild

It was almost 11pm and my eyes were beginning to cross. My soon to be 16 year old son, looks at me and says,"What do you think about this, mom?"

I look at the essay questions.

blank

I have no clue because I have never read the book.

So, like the wonderful mother that I am, (yeah, right) I pick up the book and begin reading The Call of the Wild.

I am mesmerized by paragraph 2. By paragraph 3 I realize that the lead character, Buck, is not what I thought.

By the end of chapter three, I see so many spiritual analogies, I am almost foaming at the mouth - pun intended (you have to read the book to get it) to blog immediately.

I have written all of that, to say this~

The book - The Call of the Wild is about a canine creature that began his life in luxury and comfort, only to be abducted and thrust into the cold, harsh world of dog sledding. To survive, Buck must allow his "wild" animal instincts to take over and kill or be killed.

We as Christians have our own Call of the Wild. It is our carnal or fleshly nature~ our lower nature as some say. We "domesticate" it and act civilized~ most of the time, but let a crisis come our way, or someone upset us, or an emotional upset, and that call of the wild howls in our souls.

The cry comes sometimes when we least expect it, craving, yelping, and howling to raise it's ugly head and destroy our Spirit led walk with God.

Something I never struggled with until I had children was offense. Someone could talk about me, say ugly things to me, and treat me horrible, and it just didn't bother me. But..... you let anyone mess with my babies! Oh. My. Goodness. I have to pray, fast, and just about enter a monastery to live the christian life God wants me to!

Why is that?

I remember when my daughter, who is a naturally talented athlete (she doesn't take after her mom), tried out for a competitive team. She went to the try outs and did a phenomenal job. Parents around me were saying, "Wow! She is good." She was only 7 or 8, but I just sat there and smiled, assuming she had cinched her spot on the team.

And lo, and behold, those people had the audacity to NOT pick my baby!!!!

Oh. No. They. Didn't!

But Oh, yes they did.

Thankfully I didn't "show" myself in front of God and every other parent there, but I walked out, holding my sobbing daughter's hand, and stuffed anger way down inside.

It was hard to explain to my young daughter that "Yes, you are only 7 years old and you made four beautiful free throws and several other shots. No, I didn't see many others do that. Yes, you dribbled wonderfully. Yes, you had 4 steals. But no, baby, they did not choose you."

It was a great opportunity to teach her that her value does not come from her accomplishments or successes. Her value comes from who Christ says she is.

It was a greater opportunity for Christ to do HIS work in her mom.

ouch!

I had to learn to let go of that offense for my baby.

When she cried, my heart hurt. I was her mother. I am supposed to protect her from all the evils of the world. Even evils that are unfair?

So, more than learning the value of character for my seven year old, mom learned the beauty of allowing God to develop HIS character in me in ALL areas.

For me, that was The Call of the Wild~ that call, that howling, that yearning to go give somebody, I don't know who, but give somebody the "what for" for making my baby cry.

The Call of the Wild was crying my name to hold on to offense and bitterness, to be angry because of an unfair injustice.

The lower nature of my self was trying to rear it's ugly head. ~And I think it did.

My point?

We all, no matter how long we have known Christ, have to make a decision to die daily to that sinful nature. No, we do not need to get "saved" every day, but we do need to choose to submit to God's nature in our lives. It is called sanctification- instantaneous and daily. His blood cleanses us and washes us white as snow, then we daily must separate ourselves from that part of our nature that wants to conform to the world.

Romans 12:1-2 in the Message says this:

2Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Wow! Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.

How many times does that describe us? More importantly, how many times does that describe me?

Lord, please help me to fix my attention on You, God. I want to be changed from the inside out. Help me to readily and quickly recognize what You want from me and help me to quickly respond to Your will. Help me refuse the "call of the wild" in my soul and to submit to You and Your plan for my life!

blessings,

dorinda