Last Friday, Keith and I made a decision to let our newly adopted dog Lark off-leash, to give him freedom to explore. We’d prepared him for this moment. For ten days, I walked him on leash to familiarize him with the boundaries of our property, the sights, sounds, and most importantly, the scents. Down the driveway to the turnaround, down the road to our two closest neighbors, up the meadow path, around the house and the woods trail behind. Keith taught him commands—sit, wait, down, off, come—rewarded with training treats and reinforced by me.

The relationship between dogs and humans is similar to that between humans and God. To dogs, humans are like gods, founts of wisdom and guidance, providers of the essentials of life: food, shelter, affection. Our dogs Mac and Lark seek to understand us and trust our guidance and choose life with us.

Decision: to seek His wisdom

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Proverbs 3:5-6 advises us to seek God’s wisdom rather than rely on our own free will. As with our dogs who want to understand us, we are to have confidence in God, submit to Him, and obey Him in every aspect of our lives. The pay-off for seeking His counsel? He promises to guide our paths and lead us in the right direction.

We seek His wisdom through prayer and Scripture. Before making decisions, I’ve found conversations with God to be far more helpful than my thoughts alone. Relying on God calms my anxious monkey mind and helps me see my to-do lists for what they usually are: my will, not His. This is the essential wisdom of this well-known passage in Proverbs, a guide for living a life not through our own decisions but His.

What decision did Lark make last Friday? As soon as Keith let him off leash, he streaked across the deck and flew around the house, under the deck, glorying in his freedom, living up to his name. Then he raced up the mountain trail and disappeared. But when Keith whistled and called, Lark came back quickly, panting and smiling in delight.

Decision: to trust His guidance 

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:33 NIV

This passage in Proverbs emphasizes the idea of decision-making not on chance (casting lots or rolling dice) but on trust. God is in control, sovereign over all. We are to trust in Him rather than luck—or fate. Indeed, there is no such thing as luck. Trusting His guidance is especially important during times of uncertainty, when we cannot see the outcome. How often in Scripture do we read of people, such as Moses, who question God’s direction. Really, Lord, you want me to do this? God’s purpose is often mysterious. All the more reason to trust His authority, as Lark trusted Keith.

Instead of leashing Lark, Keith encouraged him to explore more of his surroundings. Lark cocked his head, then hopped down the deck stairs, sniffed his way through the meadow, and trotted down the driveway. We alerted our closest neighbor that they might see Lark, that he was learning the on-leash-off-leash process.

Decision: to choose life daily

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV

The most important decision we make in life is how we exercise our free will: in obedience to God, which brings life and blessing, or in disobedience, which brings death and curses. 

In The Confused World of Modern Atheism, Rabbi Moshe Averick writes: “I would suggest that it is the responsibility of each individual to invest the time, effort, and energy necessary to discover the truth about the meaning, purpose, and direction of his or her own existence. Otherwise, we are all faced with three equally lamentable alternatives: (1) heedlessly following the path that our society has conditioned us to travel, (2) manufacturing our own comforting illusion, or (3) making ourselves ‘comfortably numb’ and playing out our lives as aimless, rudderless pieces of driftwood following the path of least resistance.” 

Decisions, decisions. Should I apply for that job, follow the crowd, buy a panini maker, let the dog off leash? What we’re really talking about here, though, is spiritual decision making and day-by-day Christian living. Life is a daily choice,making a proactive decision to put obedience over selfish desires, which is what Lark did.

Although he could have explored further and longer, even chosen to run away or become feral, Lark came home. He peered into our windows and jumped at the door. He wanted to come inside, to be with us, to eat his dinner, and curl up in the nest bed, and guard the house. Now, every time we let him outside on his own, he decides to come home. He chooses life.

What seeking-trusting-choosing-life decision am I making today? I’m singing and praying the chorus from “Day by Day” from the 1971 show Godspell. “Day by day, Day by day, Oh Dear Lord, Three things I pray: To see thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, Follow thee more nearly, Day by day…” Though this song is mysterious to Lark, the seeking clearly, trusting dearly, and choosing nearly decisions are his heart’s desire—and mine.

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