There are two barks in this photo, but only one is visible. The other is audible, on random days. Too audible!
You’re looking at the short trail that connects our neighborhood sidewalk with the Lake Youngs Reservoir Trail, a favorite part of our daily walks.
To the left of the photo are trees I pause for; I love to run my hands over their bark. I may not be a tree hugger, but I am a tree smoother. Smoothing is soothing!
I have a deep affinity for forests, and all things green and growing (except mold . . . can’t get too lyrical here!). Just reading about all the benefits of walking through the woods lowers my blood pressure.
To the right of the photo is a tall wooden fence. The homeowners of the backyard behind the fence own two dogs, and we never know when one or both will be outside. A loud, sharp barrage of barking lets us know that while they cannot see us, they can hear us.
I try to brace for the possibility of their barking, but it still disturbs my peace and hurts my ear when it happens within a foot or two of that ear. I am annoyed.
But only for a moment. When my adrenaline calms down, I am all in favor of dogs who bark to protect their property and alert their owners to possible problems.
Our own house is surrounded by dogs – two small yipper-yappers on one side, a golden retriever on the other. Our back fence borders the backyards of two houses, each with a resident dog. We like having five alert watchdogs around us.
Two kinds of barks – one to bless and one to alert.
I started musing about finding these two types of barks in the Bible, and thought of this passage, as Moses presents two clear choices to the people he has led for forty long years through the wilderness:
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
(Deuteronomy 30:15-20, NKJV)
We see the bark of blessing God wants to pour into their lives, if they’ll choose to love and walk in His ways, and we hear the bark of alerting: cursing and death will result if their hearts turn away and worship and serve other gods.
The message is for me as well as for them: “choose life,” “cling to Him”!
These two phrases remind me of John 15, where Jesus tells His disciples He is the vine and they are the branches. Abiding in Him results in bearing much fruit; not abiding in Him results in being cast out as a withered branch.
I have never thought of Deuteronomy 30 and John 15 as companion chapters, but I like looking at them this way. Both passages present clear choices; both tell us how to live a life that is productive, loving and full of joy.
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)
In this brand-new week, whatever trails we travel, or trials we encounter, Jesus the Joy-giver walks beside us.