Bunnies and Sheep

I've been thinking about the book The Runaway Bunny since my two posts on the topic earlier this week, and it occurred to me that we are all very much like the little bunny in the story.

When we are small, we don't mind our parents taking care of us, but as we get older, we want to go out into the world without them. It's very often the same way with God. When we are small, we relish His protection. We trust Him implicitly. We do not question Him or His love for us.

But as we get older, we seem to know better. We want to get away from His guidelines, His commandments. We try to get away.

We are exactly like the little bunny in The Runaway Bunny. We think of more and more inventive ways to run away from God. "I will become a fish in a stream."

God answers us just like the mother bunny. "I will become a fishman, and I will catch you."

"I will become a rock high on a mountain."

"I will become a mountain climber, and I will climb up to you."

"I will become a flower hidden in a garden."

"I will become a gardener, and I will find you."

This story reminds me so much of the parable of the lost sheep. No matter where the sheep has gone, the shepherd goes to find him. And we are the lost sheep. We wander all over, stubbornly refusing to obey, refusing to follow our Shepherd. He calls us, but we ignore Him. He looks high and low for us, but we continually go off and hide.

"I will become a bird and fly away from you."

"I will become a tree that you come home to."

No matter where we go, no matter what we do, God seeks us out. And, no matter what we might think about it, our souls will always long for Him. We were made, not for this world, but for Heaven. It's our real home. Ask any child who has studied the Balitmore Catechism why God made him, and he will answer, "God made me to know, love, and serve Him in this life, and to be happy with Him in Heaven in the next life."

We were made for Heaven. We were made for God. We were created with a longing for Him deep in our souls. And yet we still run away.

"I will become a sailboat and sail away from you."

"I will become the wind and blow you back home."

What we need to do, and what is so very difficult for us all, is to surrender our lives to God. Every little tiny bit of them. Surrender our will. Surrender our desires. Give it all to the One who made us. He knows our needs, He knows our desires - the very deepest desires of our hearts - and He loves us beyond all comprehension.

He will come for us.

And we need to become like the little bunny. In the end, he realizes that no matter where he goes, his mother will come to find him. He can do nothing to escape her love. And he accepts that.

"Shucks," he tells her, "I might as well stay where I am and be your little bunny."

We might as well stay where we are and be His little bunnies, too.