Psalm 119:67 – I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word. (NLT)

One was large and the other small, but they both needed to be on a leash.

I once owned an Eskimo Spitz. My family owned a much larger dog that I inherited when they moved away. Since I lived in the country, I didn't have to abide by leash laws, so both dogs scampered through the woods and open fields, played in the swamps, and chased wild animals.

Then, it happened. They took up with a pack of wild dogs. Initially, they returned home every night, but soon, they came home only periodically. I decided to leash my Eskimo Spitz the next time when he showed up. Unfortunately, I never caught the larger dog, and he soon became wild like the ones that he followed. One dog came with me when I moved away, but the other continued running wildly.

I'm not much different than my two dogs were. I tend to wander. While there's nothing inherently wrong with a little innocent wandering, the wandering that I've done wasn't innocent and wasn't in God's plan. Sometimes, the wandering didn't start sinfully, but quickly became that. I knew Who provided for me, just as my dogs knew, yet I wandered anyway.

For my Eskimo Spitz, the discipline came with a leash — the only way to keep him at the house and away from unsuitable company. Had I unleashed him, he would have run again. Wandering was in his nature.

God deals with our wandering natures through the leash of discipline. The forms that He uses vary, but He designed each one perfectly to accomplish His purpose of keeping us home and away from unsuitable company — whether people or things. Closely following the teachings of His Word will go a long way in keeping us focused on spiritual rather than fleshly escapades.

The leash that I used was literal. God's leash comes in other forms, but He designs it to accomplish the same purpose.

Thank God that He loves us enough to discipline us when we stray. Then, we need to stay close to His Word so that our tendency to wander will be tamed.

Prayer: Father, we ask You to leash our sinful wanderings and keep us on the path of godliness. Amen.