Day 4: Saturday, March 4, 2017        John 3:16

 A TAIL OF TWO CHRISTIANS

Sometimes life works in mysterious ways.  Take my two dogs, Jackson and Trinity.  Jackson was a pound puppy, rescued when he was just a puppy, and he has been most grateful ever since.  He is my champion and loves to growl his protection when strangers approach.  He has never tested the boundaries of the yard, content to stay wherever I am.  He loves to play and loves me with an unquestioning love.

Then there is Trinity.  She came from the streets.  She roamed free, but scared, and hung out with all sorts of bad fellows which led to a litter of eleven puppies.  She knew the back streets, the places to hide out, and she could outrun the dog catcher as well as those who just wanted to help. Kind folks and I left food for her as well as a dog house when winter set in.  But we couldn’t get any closer as we didn’t have her trust.  Finally, friends were able to catch her but that was when she was huge with puppies and perhaps she sensed that that they all needed help.  Eleven puppies went to good homes, but no one really wanted a half wild momma dog, so Trinity came to live with Jackson and with me.  There was an immediate clash, mostly over boundaries.  Trinity never met a fence she couldn’t scale, and mind you I tried to keep her in the yard.  But she was driven to seek a life outside the bounds I set for her, bounds that Jackson seemed to have embraced.  But Trinity would eat dinner with me and then go roam for snacks such as McDonald’s or Popeye’s. Containers in the yard the next morning were the proof.  But she always came home. Always.  She understood that home represented food and safety and love, but it also came with       boundaries. 

I love them both equally.  One stays home and accepts the rules, and one breaks all the rules and still comes home.  And in my heart of hearts, I know that both love me and would defend me to the end.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son . . . “

Jackson and Trinity are like many Christians in the church today.  Jackson represents many Christians who came into the church almost from birth and fell easily into the love offered from God and the fellowship of other Christians.  It does not really occur to such Christians to step outside God’s circle of love as that is safe, warm, comfortable, and all they want. 

Other Christians, like Trinity, come to Christ the hard way, and it takes a great deal of love and patience from not only God, but fellow Christians, to help these people find God’s love and grace.  And even then, knowing what God has given them, they still stray.  They seek the world and all it has to offer, usually the worst parts.  And hopefully, like Trinity, these Christians return to the “yard,” where God welcomes them back with love, affection, and a hot meal. 

God doesn’t care whether you are a Jackson or a Trinity; He just wants you to know His love, the love that made Him send His only begotten son to die for your sins.  No matter what you do, the gate is always open to come home, and there will be no judgement.  Just love.  God’s love.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, guide us to step outside the  boundaries of our church to seek those who need our love and patience as we help lead them to You. Amen.

Contributed by Susan Frisch