We have two little twenty pound terrier type dogs who are brothers, Waylon and Willy. Barb saw Waylon by the shop, and with one look into his eyes asked him, “Waylon, what are you guilty about?” It looked like a leaf hanging from his mouth. Upon closer examination, we discovered what we saw was a little baby bunny hanging out of his mouth. I gently took the little rabbit from him. It was still very much alive, apparently unharmed except for a small scratch on its back leg. I said to Waylon, “Waylon, show us where you got this. Take us to the den.” We stood there. I repeated the command. Slowly and sort of sadly, going against everything in his nature, Waylon started walking toward the back line of the property, along the path through the woods, to a tree near the back line. He went up to its base and just stood there looking down. Sure enough, there was the hole down in the ground, lined in fur and leaves, with two other baby bunnies in it. With much petting and reassuring praise to Waylon for his good work, I returned the captive back to its little den and covered it with leaves. I have kept an eye on them each morning and each evening for days now, and the mother rabbit has continued to care for the bunnies. At this writing, the baby bunnies are about ready to hop out of their little confinement to get out and make it on their own.
It was very obvious that Waylon was doing something he knew would not be pleasing to his master. Guilt was written all over him. When we are carrying guilt, we are not really happy. It gnaws at our inner being. That is good. That means we can do something about it. If there is no gnawing, that means there is no conscience concerning natural and wrong. The good news is that as we find ourselves to be guilty, we can relinquish our natural way to our Master and he will go with us to the source of guilt to make things right. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ has been offered once for all so that as we find ourselves guilty, we can lay it all out before him for resolution. Guilt brings a nagging burden that we carry every day. When we take ownership of what we have done wrongly or harmfully, the Master will work with us to make things as right as they can be made. Sometimes consequences cannot be reversed. The one little bunny was dead a couple of days later. I removed it from the nest for the two others to continue to grow. We must give our burdens to the Master and make sure it does not happen again. He will help us stay in line. The key is to commit our lives to please the Master and to trust him to take care of things beyond our ability.
