Beware of the Dogs

 Philippians 3:1-11


I love dogs. We had some when I was little. I have one now. They were calm, friendly, happy animals. My current dog, Mister Boots, is a mostly-blind Shih Poo who doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body. For thirteen years, though, I owned a Jack Russel Terrier who, while mostly wonderful, had a habit of turning on me unanticipatedly and biting me. I have the scars to prove it. I find it interesting that Paul begins this section of Philippians with the warning…” Beware of the dogs., beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision…” (Phil 3:2 NASB) The Daily Devotional Guide goes into some detail about Paul’s use of a dog to describe those people who are false and dangerous. They weren’t seen as beloved pets and family members. They were curs who ate garbage and harassed people.

And, what made these people that way? They trusted in their own accomplishments. Their confidence before God was in the things they had done and the kind of people they had made themselves to be. I wonder if Paul found it amusing. He goes on to describe how, of all people, he could claim accomplishments in the flesh. He had believed all the right things, had done the right things. He had the right ancestry. If anyone had a right to brag, it was Saul of Tarsus. But it was all things that would only hold him back from “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus” and counted them loss”…so that I may gain Christ.”  

So, it makes me wonder, what are the dogs in my life? Besides Mister Boots, that is. What accomplishments am I holding onto that keep me from the upward call to everything that Christ has placed in His plan for me?

How about yours?


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