Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 2:8-10)

Raj, a six week-old beautiful Golden Retriever came to us as a wedding gift from the Davidson family who were breeding them just outside of Ponteix, Saskatchewan.

Sulojana was used to having a dog for a pet. I was not.

Needless to say I needed a crash course in raising a dog, especially home-schooling him in Obedience Training. Enter a book from the local library by Barbara Woodhouse, whose famous axiom was: “There are no bad dogs, only bad dog-owners.”

As much as I worked at using her techniques to raise him as a God-fearing and Jeeva-obeying dog, I must admit that once in a while I would discipline him according to the Biblical injunction: “Spare the rod and spoil the puppy.” (Proverbs 13:24, JSV—Jeeva Standard Version)

So, while on the one hand, he would obey me, you could clearly tell that he loved Sulojana. Whenever he saw me, he would still wag his tail and be friendly as he sauntered toward me at celebrity pace.

But when his beady eyes spied Sulojana, it was an altogether different story. He would immediately turn on the after-burners and run to her at breakneck speed, licking her all over and going “woof, woof, woof” followed by a prolonged moan. (Rough Translation from the Caninese: “I just love you to pieces and adore you to bits, Mommy dearest!”)

It was also neat to see what Raj would do when he did do something wrong, such as the time he clearly extended himself, stood on his paws and made sure that there was not a lick of leftover roast chicken for the rest of the family.

He would not dare come near his dog-father, but he would still run to Mommy, snuggle up against her ankles, and look at her with the saddest eyes you ever did see, accompanied by a soft whine, as if to say: “You’re not going to let Big Meanie over there hurt me, are you, Mama?”

Isn’t it true that the way we respond when we have sinned also depends on how we view our Father God? Way back in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve chose to hide themselves, as they were overcome with shame. Fear of how God would respond made them run away from Him or at least stay out of His sight.

Contrast this with the attitude of King David who chooses to run into the arms of his heavenly Father and say: “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.” (Psalm 51:4)

He knew that God was the only one to whom He could run and find forgiveness.

Dear DWOD friend, how do you respond when you sin? If you are tempted to run away from God, that urge is from the enemy of our souls, who will do everything in his power to keep you away from your Father.

When you resist the devil and head in the general direction of your Father’s house, you will indeed witness an awesome sight. He is already running toward you! (Luke 15:20).

As Raj would say: “Woof! Woof!” (Ruff translation: “Yup, that’s the gospel truth, human!”)