162 FOLLOW THE LEADER.
162 FOLLOW THE LEADER.
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
This topic was given to me through my good friend’s newsletter, Pastor Karl Ingersoll.
So many of us want Jesus to go before us and make everything alright and ready before we get there but I was reminded of my relationship that I had with my last dog, Princess.
She is gone; two years ago, I had to make the hard decision of whether she was to live or die after her liver failed and she became full of her own bodies poison. I still miss her; she had lived with me all her life which was 13 years.
She chose to be only mine; a one person dog. When we were together, she would not let me out of her sight or get somewhere that she did not know where I was.
She would be jealous of anyone or any creature that got near me; coming to my ‘defence’ by standing guard near me watching those around me and growling her warning so that they knew she would protect me from them. I had to reassure her that some of them were friends and family. She would easily make up to anyone and act friendly so long as I said it was OK or she was somewhere with out me. [Boarding kennels and babysitters spoke very highly of her.]
Her defence of me amazed me because I was so much bigger and stronger than she and much more capable of handling any situation better than she but this did not stop her from being there and being willing to take up my side against those who were much bigger than she and much more able to do damage to her.
She was an American Eskimo and I once watched her antagonize two German shepherd guard dogs that were coming near me. Her love for me overcame any fear she had and she acted without any thought for her own safety.
Her love and trust for me proved itself at her death; while the vet gave her the final needle, she was trying to lick my hand through the muzzle that they had placed on her mouth. [This is hard for me because I also loved her back and to make this decision was one of the hardest things that I have ever done in my life but she could not survive and I could not see her suffer a long and painful death.]
The point that started this page was that in our walks, she would almost always go ahead of me searching for objects of interest to her or casting about learning new things but she would always stop periodically and look for me to see which direction I was walking in so she could also go in the right direction. She was constantly in tune to my voice and would drop everything and come to me at my call.
Many times I was the leader from behind; guiding the direction by the way that I went or by voice commands. She never questioned where we were or where we were going as long as I was there and she could be with me.
Once, we were walking behind some business’ in Toronto [She lived her life with me in a transport truck] and we came to a back yard that had a fence running along its back property line. She was going along close to the buildings and investigating everything that she came to. After she checked were I was, I stepped behind the fence and watched her through openings as we progressed by the building. When she looked to see where I was, she could not see me and did not know where I was; she immediately forgot everything else and looked all around trying to spot me. Not seeing me, she ran back to the place that she last saw me and again looked all around for me. It was enough and I stepped out from behind the fence. She immediately thought that she had made a mistake in direction and started behind the fence to continue our walk.
I learned some valuable lessons from my little pet that I have incorporated into my Christian walk; when I follow Jesus and whether He is in front of me or behind me I have set my heart to just be with Him, all the time and no matter where He is or what He is into. I just love Him as He is and He loves me as I am.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
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I am comforted by the fact that there are animals in God's heaven and that the scripture says that the spirit of God's creatures goes back to Him upon their death. [Mankind is the only created being that has a choice.]
It is my hope to see my Princess again but, if not, I had her for 13 years and no-one can take those pleasant memories from me.
Scripture is unclear on this although we are reminded in it that all of Gods creation will be renewed in the Kingdom to come. In all of creation the "animal kingdom" is that part of creation which our science includes mankind along with all of Gods animals. Evolutionary theory premises itself upon revealing these links found within life. What scripture does reveal to us is neccessary for our personal salvation. Scripture teaches us that all of Gods creation is neccessary for mankind, that these created works can serve as aids to our redemption and that these things all return back to Him who created them. When Jesus suffered and died for our sins so that we might be saved He did not do so inspite of Gods creation. Not only is man saved but so too is creation.