It seems my last post started a few people thinking. Among them is Larry, my always intelligent, curious, warrior-hearted dear friend. He has a way of taking the things I mean as sarcastic slams at my current "lot in life" (and often passive-aggressively at God) and turning them into positive images of God’s love. How does he do that??

Larry took my rant, drenched it in God-focus and came out with this:

Still, we’re all chew toys to someone or something. God is completely serious about making us able to live in His kingdom.[…]  We bear God’s toothmarks in direct relationship to how much we let him love us, and I suppose that starts with learning how much we need his love. Sometimes finding and picking up that stray sheep isn’t a gentle process. I’m convinced that God makes it as gentle as possible, but I hang on to my old deadly ideas with a death grip that only loosens with time and experience. Maybe it’s God’s saliva dripping over me that dissolves the old ways of living and seeing and thinking. (emphasis mine)

I know it sounds crazy, but I like the idea of bearing God’s teethmarks. It’s kind of like bearing His imprint, having His fingerprints all over my life, except with a long-lasting mark (fingerprints can be wiped off, after all). They aren’t like the open wounds from an angry dog, but they do leave punctures in my soul. I know ultimately it’s a good thing;  it means He’s making me into something new. I just wish His teeth weren’t so sharp.

I realize they have to be that way to fend off attackers and soul-stealers. I’ve seen God bare those sharp babies at my enemies. It’s truly a beautiful sight to behold. I remember reading somewhere that God just starts to get up from His throne and Satan and his minions scatter like roaches when the lights come on. If He can cause evil to tremble and hide without even baring His sharp teeth, think of how much more He accomplishes in protecting us when He does.

Yet for all my talk of embracing the idea of bearing God’s teethmarks, I’m still fighting against the reality that I’m His personal chew toy. I guess everyone wants to believe they were created for a noble purpose. I’m no different. Being gnawed and slobbered on till I’m like soggy rawhide just doesn’t sound lofty to me at all. Yet, when I view it through Larry’s eyes, I can see its exaltation.

This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not "doing" anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!" — Romans 10:8-10 The Message

What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. — Phil 2:12-13 The Message