Emily was really concerned. This was the third day of watching the little stray dog wander around her neighborhood. It was also the third day in a row of very cold weather. Emily decided she just had to bring that poor little dog inside.
It wasn’t much of a job to catch the dog, as he was just as eager to get inside as Emily was to bring him into the house. But what a shock she got when she picked him up! His coat was dirty, tangled and full of burrs. The dog could not stay in Emily’s house in that condition, so she carried him to the basement and headed for the laundry tub.
It took plenty of soap and warm water and a sharp pair of scissors before the dog was clean and free of burrs. As Emily finished up she was surprised to see that he was a white dog rather than the dirty brown one she had carried in.
Each one of us was at one time wandering around in need of someone to save us, just like this dirty, ragged little dog. That Someone we need is the Lord Jesus Christ who loves us. The little dog needed a good bath, and our hearts need to be washed clean of sin. 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7) tells us: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Without that clean heart we never would be fit for His home in heaven.
When Emily saw that he was a white dog, she remembered that the school crossing guard at the corner had told her that one of the school boys had lost a white dog. Emily waited until she knew the children would be getting out of school. Then she walked down to the corner to talk to the guard about the dog. The guard spotted the boy who had lost his dog, but when they talked to him he said he had found his dog earlier that week.
Poor Emily, she had been so sure that the little white dog belonged to that boy - now she had to decide what to do with the dog. She lived with her brother Joe, and while she walked home she decided she would talk to him about what she should do with the dog. Maybe he could come up with an idea.
Well, it didn’t take Joe long to make a decision: “We’ll keep him.” And that’s just what they did. Emily tied a big bow around the neck of the little white dog to celebrate that he was now part of the family. Then Joe suggested, “Let’s call him Bows!”
How very kind of Emily and Joe to give Bows a home and take good care of him and love the little dog. Have you ever thought of God’s kindness and love in preparing a home for those who have accepted His Son the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour? “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” Jeremiah 31:33The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3). “I go to prepare a place for you. . . . I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2,32In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2‑3). In love, God sent the Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross to make a way for us to become part of His family and be accepted in His home in heaven.
Are you part of His family and on your way to His home? Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour?
ML-11/21/1993