Walking to work one morning, a bulldog came running up to me. He seemed to have come from a country neighbor’s house, so I figured it was their dog. He was friendly so I petted him, and he trotted along with me, often walking in front of me. Still thinking that he belonged to the neighbor, I kept telling him that he really should go home. He completely ignored my command.
This dog appeared to be rather well fed but perhaps not too active, and so, as we walked on, he got tired. As we got closer to work, he wandered off to the other side of the road. I hoped he wouldn’t get hit by any road traffic, but then I saw that he was interested in the dead deer on the shoulder of the road. Then he wandered into the yard of our business neighbor next door and finally came into the yard of the veterinary office where I worked.
I stepped inside and talked to Anna, the vet’s wife. Conner, their dog, was making a big fuss. I told Allen, the vet, and Anna about the dog that followed me, which Conner had seen and was fussing about. I called the neighbor that I assumed owned this dog that had followed me and talked to the lady of the house. She said it wasn’t their dog and that it had just shown up in their yard that morning. So that idea wasn’t any help in figuring out who owned the dog.
I ended up calling the town’s dog warden. He said he’d be out before 5:00 to pick up the dog. There were no tags on the dog’s collar, and he didn’t have a micro chip, so we had no way to identify him. Anna went out and tied him to a tree, and I went out later and gave him some water. He lounged comfortably in the shade for the day. He probably didn’t even know he was lost.
I’m sure that some of you children don’t know that you are lost. In fact, all children have been lost! Some of you might well remember being separated from your mom or dad in a store when you were young, and that was scary. But they quickly found you, and you were happy again. But do you know that each boy and girl and man and woman has been lost but in a different way? The Bible tells us that each one of us has been born lost in sin. When you were lost in a store, you were separated from your mom or dad. Being lost in sin means that you are separated from God who loves you, even more than your mom and dad love you. And He is looking for you just like your mom or dad were looking all over for you in the store. God sent His beloved Son, Jesus, into the world to die for you so that your sins could be washed away. “The Son of Man [Jesus] is come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:1111For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:11)). He is looking for you right now, so that He can save you from your sins.
I’m glad to tell you that someone was looking for the lost dog that had followed me to work. When it was time for me to go home, I walked out to the road and headed home. I hadn’t gone far when I heard a vehicle slow down behind me. It was a man in a pickup truck, and he called, “Have you seen a brown and white dog?”
I was happy to tell him that I had seen his dog, and I could tell him where he was tied up. I told him his dog had followed me to work and told him exactly where to find him. I said he should tell Allen and Anna that he had talked to me and had come to claim his dog. He was very glad to know his dog was safe.
A little later, as I turned into our driveway, I heard a couple blasts from a horn. I turned around to see the same pickup truck go by, this time with a brown and white dog in the passenger seat, and I gave them a happy wave. It was easy to see that the dog and his owner were both happy to be back together again.
Boys and girls, and grown-ups too, this lost dog story has a happy ending, but we want to be sure that your life has a happy ending too. The Lord Jesus came into this world of sin purposely to save sinners. He loves you and died for you, taking the punishment that you deserve for your sins, if you will accept Him as your very own Saviour. He is alive in heaven right now and wants you to live with Him when your time here on earth is finished. Will you accept His loving offer right now and know that someday heaven will be your happy home?
“The Son of Man [Jesus] is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke19:10).
ML-09/14/2014