The janitor of the building where Marvin worked was taking trash out to the big garbage dumpster one morning when he heard something whimpering inside the big steel container. When he lifted the lid, he found a small, black animal inside. He picked up the whimpering creature and found that it was a very sick puppy. Its eyes were infected, its coat was dirty and scruffy with patches of fur missing, and its little stomach was bloated. It was a pitiful little creature.
The janitor carried the little puppy to Marvin and asked him what he should do with it. Marvin told him to put it in a box and he would call his wife to come take a look at the miserable little dog.
Marvin called Louise, his wife. When he told her about the thrown-away puppy, she said, “Marvin, you know I can’t turn a homeless animal away, and we already have three cats!”
“Better come down and look at this puppy anyway,” Marvin told his wife.
When Louise saw the pitiful condition of the little black puppy, her heart went out to it. Even though she knew from experience that the medical cost of treating the puppy would be high, she said, “Let’s take it to the animal doctor and see what he says.”
The condition of this sick, hopeless, unwanted puppy that was dumped in a steel prison is just like any boy or girl or man or woman who is still locked in the prison of their sins and unsaved. The Bible describes their condition as miserable in Isaiah 1:66From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. (Isaiah 1:6): “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness . . . but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying [festering] sores.” Their condition is sadly hopeless unless they turn to the Saviour of sinners who loves them and has compassion for every lost sinner. The Lord Jesus willingly died on the cross so He could save sinners from their sins. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). He wants to wash away their sins, making them clean and fit for His happy home in heaven.
After a few weeks of medication and loving care, the little black puppy blossomed into a pretty dog. She has a patch of white on her chest, a light-brown muzzle, light-brown spots over her eyes and cute, floppy ears. They named her Megan. She had to learn to leave the cats alone, which she did after having her nose scratched a few times. She enjoys the water and loves to lie on a floatboard for rides around the family swimming pool.
Megan is now a happy, trusting companion of her new owners. And the Lord Jesus offers you a happy, trusting relationship with Him, if you will accept the love He offers and let Him cleanse you from all your sins. “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)).
ML-11/10/2002