You actually CAN teach an old dog new tricks! I had a dog that lived to almost 17 years of age. Vinnie learned lots of new things and new routines, and yes, even new tricks, even in the last year and a half of his life! We had gotten a new puppy, and as we trained Cubbie with some things, we also trained old man Vinnie. In dog years he was about 118 years old! You could absolutely tell that he learned begrudgingly, but he did the tricks and new routines, nonetheless.
 
Cubbie, the then puppy, is now almost seven and a half. In dog years, she is just over 50. I’m not calling 50 old 😉, but she is fairly set in her ways. I decided, however, that I was going to teach her some new tricks. She is very motivated by the love and attention of her humans, and food. I prefer to think of it as being in that order, but I am pretty certain it is not.

Success! She can now shake paw/hand, lie down on command, and roll over. The funny thing is that when I hold a treat in my hand, she will go crazy running through the gamut of every trick she knows, before a command is ever issued! She doesn’t actually get a treat, or the crazy-love-petting and playing, unless she does the proper trick to the command issued.
 
Many of us who are followers of Jesus don’t look outside of the box that we live in to consider new ways and opportunities to share the love of Christ because “we have never done that before”. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, right? Some of us even go so far as to say that BECAUSE we have never done that before, “it must be wrong”.
 
Wow! Where would this world be if new and different things weren’t done because they hadn’t been done before?
 
We must be very careful to not embrace or do things that are counter to God’s Word, but we also need not be fearful of things, just because we are unfamiliar with them.
 
New things have the potential to not only be rewarding, but also to expand and deepen our, and others’, relationship with Christ.

If we feel God leading us toward something new, we must not resist, like Vinnie did. Cubbie unnecessarily cycled through all her tricks instead of listening to the specific command. So that we don’t spin our wheels unnecessarily, we must be patient and wait for the instruction from Him. When we follow His leading and will for our lives, He affirms us in our souls with His love and joy.
 
It isn’t about the performance for God, it is about the relationship with God. We cannot earn favor from God by doing tricks. (Ephesians 2:8-9) We can, however, show our reciprocal love to Him by obeying Him. So we work to diminish our resistance, pride, selfishness, and control that can get in the way of our clear understanding of God’s commands.
 
If God asks us to do something unfamiliar, let’s not resist, but PRAY! And wait for His answer. Is this the “new next” for my life? If yes, we should do it with gusto (and a little tail wagging), and feel the pleasure of Our Father!
 
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen…the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” Isaiah 43:19-21