The Chihuahua and The Ice Cream Truck

"Bark! Bark! Bark!" I couldn't hear him, but the intensity of his bark created wrinkles on his face. He was rushing towards the ice cream truck and looking back over his shoulder toward the house. "Come ON!" I imagined him saying to his owners, "Hurry up, I can only keep the truck here for so long!" The ice cream truck pulled over as if to say, "I hear you little doggie, where are your people?"

Watching in my rear view mirror, straining to see if children came running out, I laughed at my own curiosity. Are we like the chihuahua? Do we see God's blessing, and call out to those we care about, "Come! Look and see what the Lord has for us!" but then no one comes?

Tinkling music announces an ice cream truck a block away. All of creation declares that there is a Creator, One God, over all of the earth (see Psalm 19:1 and Romans 1:20). But even those of us who know God's son, Jesus, as our Savior, sometimes forget to go to God for what we need (see Matthew 6:25).



We live in the world and it is easy for the thinking of the world to slip into our hearts and minds. Anything God has to offer, I can get somewhere else they say. The world declares that peace is achievable by controlling all the details of our lives. Security is available in a bank account, a relationship, or a job. I don't need God's blessings, I just need more money.

But God says,

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift

coming down to us from God our Father,

who created all the lights in the heavens.

He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

James 1:17 
NLT

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.

Ephesians 2:7-9 

The Message

Dear Lord, thank You for reminding me that no matter how it appears something has been taken care of in my life, by my own labor, or the gifts of others, at the source, every good thing comes from You. Thank You for using a cute little chihuahua to remind me that no matter how much I talk (or bark) I cannot be the making or saving of anyone. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by 

Mary M. Wilkins