Is Dog Man's Best Friend?

    I doubt Joel Dobrin’s dog is, at least not anymore.
    Dobrin was pulled over a few days ago for a routine traffic stop in Moro, Idaho. He had a stash of drugs stuffed in a sock, sitting next to him, and not wanting the officer to see it, flung it onto the floor of the back seat. Dobrin’s dog saw this as an opportunity for a game of fetch and jumped back to get it. The officer was still in the car awaiting radio response from the license check, so Dobrin reached for the sock to pull it from the dog’s mouth, who, in turn, saw it as a game of tug-of-war. Dobrin won the game but lost the war. He pulled the sock so hard that as he yanked it out of the dog’s mouth, it went flying out his window, with contraband scattering everywhere. All this in perfect timing: just as the officer approached the car.
    I wonder if Rover will recognize him in that bright orange jump suit?
    Joel, don’t blame your dog. He was just being a dog. And don’t blame the cop, he was doing his job and upholding the law. This was all you! You are the cause of your own troubles.
    But that’s a tough admission to make. Not just for Joel Dobrin, but for all of us. It’s a lot easier on our psyche to convince ourselves that the trouble at work is due to an over-demanding boss or irresponsible coworkers. It’s feels better to blame the bad marriage on the lack of communication skills of your husband or the moodiness of your wife. And you don’t feel so condemned when you reason that your addiction is due to the way you were hard-wired than due to a series of bad choices.
    But if Joel blames his dog, I doubt this will be his last stint in jail.
    And if you keep blaming everyone and everything else, your troubles will just continue to repeat themselves.
    Blame-shifting and excuse-making are as old as Adam and Eve. Neither one of them were willing to take responsibility for their sin. We tend to follow suit.
    But that’s also what keeps us from being released from sin’s bondage. The first step to freedom is confession, which is a full acknowledgment of one’s offense, without excusing or accusing others. Proverbs 28:13 reads, “Whoever conceals his sins will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
    God is eager to forgive you and deliver you. But you’ve got to stop defending yourself, playing games and pointing fingers.
    You know what? I really do think Joel Dobrin’s dog was his best friend. It was to Joel’s benefit to get caught. But whether or not he repents or keeps playing tug-of-war will determine if his life changes for the better.
    Maybe that’s the case with you as well.
    “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).