For more than a year, Michael Bosch thought about adopting a dog. He talked with the Marin Humane Society about it, and finally one November day he drove there to look at a Labrador retriever rescued from Hurricane Katrina. Michael looked over the animals in the shelter. He saw the lab that had been described to him. It was a nice dog, all right, but he fell in love with a little cocker spaniel puppy named Honey. Honey needed a home, and when Michael drove back to his house, the little cocker spaniel went with him.
Early on a Monday morning two weeks later, Michael decided to go out for a drive, taking Honey with him. He began to back down his long driveway off the Nicasio Valley Road. Suddenly his car began to slide! Michael tried frantically to stop the car, but it slid off the driveway and fifty feet down a very steep slope. When it finally stopped, Michael was pinned in the overturned car, and Honey was nowhere in sight.
What a long and terrible day for Michael! No one had seen his car tumble down that steep slope, and he was helpless and in pain. His neighbor was not home, but even if he were, Michael could not have called loud enough to be heard. With his legs caught in the twisted metal, he could not move at all. The hours seemed to crawl by.
Finally at suppertime, Michael’s neighbor came home. Honey appeared immediately, barking and whining and clearly wanting to tell the neighbor that something was terribly wrong. The neighbor followed Honey.
Together they climbed down the long, steep slope, and there was the overturned car with badly injured Michael inside. The neighbor quickly called for help. Firefighters had to cut away part of the car to get to Michael. With great care, his rescuers pulled him from the smashed car, and a helicopter came to take him to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. There the doctors treated him for five broken ribs, leg injuries and scratches on his arms and face.
Do you know who Michael was anxious to see while he was in the hospital? It was his dog Honey! Three days later, when the doctors decided Honey was allowed to come in for a visit, Michael was overjoyed. “All my pain went away,” he said. Honey licked Michael’s face and roamed around on the hospital bed, quite happy to be the center of attention. She was given dog biscuits and a stuffed toy dog to play with!
Why did everyone treat Honey as such a special dog? Because without that little dog, Michael probably would have died. Honey had saved Michael’s life, and Michael couldn’t say enough good things about her. He kept telling everyone how beautiful and smart she was!
Michael loved Honey even more because she had saved him. No wonder he wanted to talk about her! Those of us who belong to the Lord Jesus have a wonderful story to share with you too. We want to talk about someone who loves you and wants to save you. When the Lord Jesus was born, He was given the wonderful name of Jesus, because that name means Saviour. “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:2121And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)). We were caught by our sins and unable to save ourselves. We needed someone to rescue us. The Lord Jesus was willing to take the penalty for our sins and to die on a cross so that we might be made clean from those sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all 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)).
I am sure Michael is glad he did not put off adopting his little dog. If he had waited even two more weeks, perhaps he would have been all alone on that fateful Monday and died before the car was discovered. He is glad he acted to adopt Honey right away. A little longer delay might have meant he had no friend to help when he was in trouble.
Putting off something you plan to do is called neglect. Don’t wait to decide to accept God’s offer of salvation. If you do, it might be too late! God says, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3)).
ML-07/30/2006