Look at the dog in the picture quietly at work, following his master who is kind and merciful, and acting in accordance with what God says in Proverbs 12:10,10A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. (Proverbs 12:10) that “a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.”
Among the Indians I have seen much cruelty to dogs, and have sometimes tried to get the drivers (especially boys) exercised about it, for the dog is one of God’s creatures, and He sees all the sticks thrown at it, and hears all its cries and groans. Sticks thus used are often left on the road by cruel and careless drivers, and endanger the safety of the next traveler. Will not God have something to say to those who ill-use His creatures, when “all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ”? Thank God, the animals will not always be in bondage to cruel men and boys, for the 21St verse of Romans 8, says, the creature shall be delivered and have liberty. The Lord make you kind to His creatures!
Now, dear children, you may often have heard dogs cry out from pain, and perhaps have heard them groan. Did you ever groan or feel any pain on account of sin? Remember, if you do not know what that means in this life, you will certainly know it after leaving this world, when it will be too late to obtain any relief. The burden of sin must be known sometime. For those who are saved Jesus bore the burden of sin in His own body on the tree; but those who die unsaved will have to bear it themselves in the lake of fire. Even though you had sinned only once, that would shut you out of heaven, if you were to die without God’s forgiveness.
In the 15th of Matthew we read of a woman whose daughter was afflicted by Satan. Now this woman acted very wisely, for she went to the Lord about it. How thankful you should be, if, when you are not yet saved, or are ill, your parents go to God, and tell Him all about you! But before this woman could obtain what she wanted for her daughter, she had to take the place of having no claim to blessing. She did not belong to the Jews but to the Gentiles; and Jesus had not been sent as King of the Gentiles, but of the Jews. But the Jews said, “We will not have this Man to reign over us,” and so they put Him on the cross. Then God so loved the world, that instead of at once punishing for such a wicked act, He gave His only begotten Son to bear our sins in His own body on the tree, and pay the penalty of death for us, that whosoever—yes, no matter who, Jew or Gentile, you or I, —whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. Well, the Lord Jesus told this woman that it “was not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” What did He mean? Why; a dog has no claim to sit at table along with the children, but has to take a place under or near the table; and yet by God’s wise arrangement of the law of gravitation the dog does receive some food in the shape of fallen crumbs. The poor woman understood the Lord’s words, and said something like this—Yes, Lord, I am but a poor Gentile dog. I have no claim to be among the Jews. I don’t deserve any blessing; but I own Thee as my Lord who hast every claim over me: so I am under the table like a dog waiting to pick up a crumb. Just a crumb will do, if it only falls from Thy Table. “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.” Now, dear children, have you come to Jesus in that very same way? There is no other way in which you can be accepted. Merely saying prayers and being religious will not save you from sin nor prevent your going to hell. When the woman of Canaan took the place of having no claim to blessing, owning Jesus as Lord, and believing on Him in her heart, she at once received what she needed for her daughter. But it was all on the principle of grace; that is, she did not deserve what she needed, and she knew and owned it; but God’s heart of love freely gave it to her. So when you own to God that you have sinned against heaven and before Him, and are not worthy of any blessing, but do believe that Jesus died for you, God will not only forgive you all your sins, but will cause you to know it; and you will have joy and peace in believing the record that God has given of His Son. But it will all be by His grace; that is, you don’t deserve it; but He can righteously give it you freely. You have nothing to pay for it, neither does He want any pay, for it was all paid for long, long ago by the precious blood of Christ when He said, “It is finished.”
ML 02/09/1902