The Dog That Never Forgot

THERE is a story of a dog that loved its master. The master was just a little teenage boy, but this dog was full of joy and his tail wagging all the time.

When the boy went to bed, the dog jumped up on the bed and lay right beside him. When the boy got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, the dog would jump out of the bed, walk to the door, and sit at the bathroom door until the boy got out and then jump back up in bed.

When it was time for breakfast, the boy would get up to get ready to go to school, the dog would jump up, follow the boy to the table, and then sit at the boy’s feet until the boy finished eating and was on his way to school. He would walk outside with the boy until the boy went to the bus stop. Then the dog would sit down and wait for the bus with the boy.

When the bus came, the boy would get on the bus. The bus would drive off. The dog would run behind as far as it could before the bus outpaced it.

When the boy came home from school, the dog would be sitting right there at the bus stop, waiting for the boy to come home. The boy would then go to his home.

The dog would walk with him, and sit at his feet while he ate dinner. He would then follow him around until it was time to turn in for the night.

At this point, he would jump back up on the bed and go through the whole process the next day and the next, day in and day out, always wagging its tail. How can a dog do that day in and day out for his little teenage master? Because when the boy found the dog, it was wandering the street.

It was a mangy, unkempt mutt. It was headed for sure disaster by the dogcatcher. If that dog had ever been caught, it surely would not have been adopted but instead eradicated.

However, this boy found that wandering, mangy dog, took it home, washed it, bathed it, resuscitated it, fed it, and best of all loved it. It became apparent from the dog’s tail that the dog never forgot it. Wherever that boy was, that dog was going to be because it was evident that dog never forgot where it had been when that boy found him.

Some of us were wandering on a street called sin. We were just mangy sinners. Some of us sinned and didn’t think about it. Some sinned and didn’t care.

Others of us were secret sinners. We didn’t sin so folk could see, but if that closet ever got revealed, it would be clear that we were just as mangy as the folks who were public.

Others of us were white-collar, sophisticated sinners who never did anything outright but just kept it all in our minds. No matter what kind of sinner you were, He found you. The grace of God discovered you where you were. You heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and He saved you.

And my only question is this: where would you be if He hadn’t found you? Is your gratefulness evident in the way you respond to the Master?