SUNDAY: Bible Study - 9:00 AM | Worship - 10:00 AM | PM Worship - 6:00 PM WEDNESDAY: Bible Class - 7:00 PM ~ 8110 Signal Hill Road Manassas, Virginia | Office Phone: 703.368.2622

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.   Ephesians 3.19-20 NIV

dogonchain            I am generally not in favor of keeping dogs on chains. I know it is sometimes necessary, but if one’s dog needs to be constantly on a chain, one’s dog probably ought to find a new home. I will never forget a Jack Russell chained to a clothes-line pole in the tiny back yard of a home in Ohio I visited once.  He was tethered in such a way that he could run in circles around the pole – and did. It was his occupation all day long, and he had worn a track in the back yard half as deep as he was tall. He was not so much a dog as he was a drill-bit.

            I remember as well the dogs my great-great aunt Beulah (everyone called her “Sook”) kept chained up at her place out in the country. She had six or eight big mongrels staked out around her place, and a one-eyed Peekingese mix tethered to an old sofa (she called it a “davenport”) with a tow-chain. The dog looked like it was part Peekingese and part rat.  It looked like a shaggy, one-eyed rat (which means it was also probably part Chihuahua – what does one call such a dog – a Peeka-Wawa?). The dog didn’t need to be tethered to anything.  The tow-chain weighed more than the dog, so he wasn’t going anywhere.  The thing is, those big outdoor dogs which were part German Shepherd and part Yeti could have probably broken free any time they wanted. They were held by rusty chains hooked to spindly, rotted trees, aluminum poles, rebar stuck in the ground. But they never tried.  They stood up and barked at strangers, then lay back down at the end of their chains.

            Listening to Les Ferguson during Bible class Sunday I felt a little tethered. He was asking us to join him in the successful work he is doing in south-central Mexico, and mingled with the excitement of the success of the work were the thoughts: “is it safe there?” “Wow, the costs are nearly as high as if we were going to India with Jerris,” “it doesn’t sound very safe there,” “the logistics of food and lodging sound really complicated for a group of any size,” and “I wonder if it is safe?” – like a dog on a chain.

            It is true that Jesus cautions us to “count the cost” (Luke14.25-33), but it is also true that he sends us out into the world as evangelists (Matthew 28.18-20).  The world, of course, is as close as our neighbor’s front door. The faraway places are our responsibility as well. Jesus makes clear that WE are the harvesters God sends into the field, and that without His help we will not be sufficient to reach the souls who are eager to hear the Gospel (Matthew 9.35-10.15).  But we have His help – His power is at work within us, and He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask, or are able to comprehend. He is not the one who tethers us.  We tether ourselves. Even the passage about “counting the cost” cited above (Luke 14.25-33) is not about holding back, but giving all.

            Tethering doesn’t keep us from making a great noise. Tethering doesn’t keep us from being busy – working hard at running all day around a pole. What tethering does is keep us in place. Chains make us stay when Jesus says “Go!”

            Our elders will, in the future, after much prayer and the application of their collective wisdom, be bringing us opportunities to go – perhaps to Mexico, perhaps to India, perhaps to some other nation. They continually provide us with opportunities to go to the world across the street.  When they ask us to go, and wherever they ask us to go, let us go if we are able. Let us not be content to bark, or busy ourselves like a dog at the end of a chain.

NewManassas Side

8110 Signal Hill Road | Manassas, Virginia

Let us know about your interest in Studying the Bible

Members Login

Bible Study

biblestudysd

Top
                                                                       © 2013 Manassas Church of Christ