Explore.

(My professor told this story the other day and it's had me thinking ever since.)

I bought a champion dog years ago. You know, the ones that supposedly hunt rabbits. I took it to this guy and asked him if he could teach it to hunt rabbits. "TEACH IT? YOU CAN'T TEACH IT. IT'S A CHAMPION. HE WAS BORN TO HUNT RABBITS." Well okay then. After a few years i took him into the woods, set him down, stepped back and waited to see what would happen. Yep. He hunted alright. Lizards. Crickets. No Rabbits. We kept trying every so often to see if he would ever find a rabbit. One day we were riding home in the truck from our adventure of exploring in the woods. A rabbit ran across the road. I knew the dog didn't see it, so i pulled over. I got the dog out of the truck, put him on his leash and started walking along the side of the road. I knew exactly where the rabbit crossed, but i wanted to see if the dog would notice. If anything would change. It was amazing! He froze as soon as he crossed the rabbits trail. Then off he went in the direction of the rabbit. Never again did he search for lizards or crickets. He found what he was created to do.

We are like the dog.

We need to explore. It's how we learn. How we find ourselves, our identity, what we were created to do.

It's like God is taking us out each day giving us opportunities, just waiting for the day when we walk across that scent and take off running because we've never smelt anything like it before. I see Him holding my leash, walking next to me, guiding me along this path that leads straight to the rabbit. He knows exactly where it crosses. And the whole time He is smiling.

Explore.