Joseph

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I’m not sure if I have shared this bit of information on here before, but if I have, here it is again. Nemo has not always been my only Chihuahua. A few years ago, I made the decision to buy another one for Nemo to have a brother. His name was Joseph and he was the cutest thing ever.

There wasn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for this dog. I bought him the best toys.
I fed him the best food. I frequently changed my schedules around so that I would have more time to be home with him. I loved him as a puppy and provided him with the best obedience training possible as he grew older. I spent all my money on teaching him what was right and what was wrong behavior. There was no reason whatsoever why this dog should have been anything but the most obedient and loved animal on the face of the planet.

Sure wish that was the case! This dog was awful! He would howl into the night if he wasn’t tired. He would mark his territory in every single crevice of my apartment. Even after 2 sessions of week-long obedience school, it seemed as though he had learned nothing! He would look me straight in my eyes and simultaneously hike his leg on my brand new couch!

Even now, I ask myself: What more could have been done for him that I did not do? But, when I looked to find my obedient, loving dog…I only saw defiance.

As I read through Isaiah, this reminds me all too much of the Song of the Vineyard. God is speaking about his people and all that He had wished for them to be:

Isaiah 5:1-2,4
“My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.

What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” - TNIV

Just as I sent Joseph to a family who didn’t mind his disobedience, what other choice did God have but to finally send judgment upon His disobedient people? Was there ever another choice?