Goats tend to be seasonal breeders, much like deer. Breeding season is always eventful. As dignified as some people act about breeding goats, the goats themselves forsake all dignity to reproduce.
When a female goat cycles and goes into heat, she will accept the service of a male goat. At all other times, she will refuse. When a female goat is in heat, she often wags her tail a lot (this is called flagging) and will rub her head on the male. This is not very ostentatious, but what the boy goat does is indeed nothing short of ostentatious.
To varying degrees, the male will make an utter fool of himself to get the girl. Most goats will hang their tongue out of their mouth, snort, wave their front leg in the air, pee into their mouth, flip their upper lip up, and make a series of vocal noises ranging from little grunts to full throaty octaves. I even had one buck that used to say the word "whoop, whoop" plain as day over and over. It gets the girl every time. The most beautiful of bucks will turn into a clownish imbecile in the presence of a receptive doe.
This made me think of King David as he danced before the Ark of the Lord (2 Samuel 6:13-15). He "danced with abandon" before the Lord because all of his excitement was tied up in the presence of God. Whatever is our object of worship demands our all, and our all includes our dignity.
Why did David wear only his undergarments and a ritual vest? I don't know. Why do male goats pee on themselves and sing hideous songs? I don't know. What I do know is this, though: David got what he wanted when he danced with abandon. What he wanted was an intimate experience with God, and he got it. If we worship with our eyes darting to and fro to the people around us who we think are watching us, we, too will get what we want. If that is how we worship, what we're wanting is a proper image, and we'll have it. If we close our eyes and yield our hearts to the Spirit's leading, what we want is what David wanted.
If a male goat became inhibited and was less focused on the girl in heat and more focused on the other goats watching him...he wouldn't get the girl. Quite honestly, he'd likely be the weenie of the barnyard. It's a personal opinion, but I think that when we worship God while thinking how we appear to others, the angels see us as worshipping weenies.
If I could, I would scream these words of David, the psalmist, from the rooftops: "As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father. Serve him wholeheartedly and with desire in your being; for Adonai searches all hearts and understands all the inclinations of people's thoughts." -1 Chronicles 28:9
Worship God with abandon. Serve God with abandon. Dance for God with abandon. All of heaven's eyes are looking on you, cheering you on to be a fool for Christ. You'll get the desires of your heart; so what is it that your heart is truly desiring?
LOVE this!
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