Often Mira, our son’s Doberman, picks up her bone and presents it us when we arrive home. In a previous blog I referred to this as dog evangelism. She has something she enjoys and happily shares it. But Mira has another habit, one more annoying. She will pick up the bone, place it on our leg, and chew away at it. Since this covers me with bits of bones floating in drool, I often grab the bone and hold it carefully by one end while she chews the other. I’m not sure why, but she seems to enjoy eating in our presence. And except for the mess, I enjoy her enjoyment of the bone.
God seems to have enjoyed this type of thing too. He commanded the Israelites to gather the tithe and then “eat in the presence of the Lord your God.” (Deut. 14:23) We have reduced the Lord’s Supper to a wafer and shot of grape juice, but it too is a kind of eating in God’s presence. And although we relegate them to the less sacred space of fellowship halls, churches often have potluck suppers which may come closest to the holy feasts of the Old Testament. All of this is to say that God enjoys our enjoyment of his gifts in his presence. I suspect that we, in our humanity and weakness, may be as messy and mindless in our enjoyment as Mira is when chewing her bone on my leg. But it’s okay. I love Mira. God loves us. The bone is good and there is fried chicken at the potluck dinner.
