If you are thinking about getting a dog but you’re not sure, don’t (I repeat. Do not.) visit an animal shelter just to see what’s there. We did. We now have a new dog. A shelter is totally pathetic. As you walk down the aisle past all the cages it seems like some form of a penitentiary. Some of the prisoners rush to the door of their cells barking “Pick me, pick me. Please pick me. I need to get out of here.” Others sit and look up with the most pleading eyes you have ever seen. One fine fellow put his paw out as if to say, “If you touch me, we will be friends forever.” One very muscular bulldog gave me the eye as if to say, “Hey Buddy, you looking for some protection? I’m your man.”
I, along with many of you, grew up hearing Joshua 24:15, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” So we chose thinking we were initiating a relationship with God. We couldn’t have been more wrong. In Matthew 25 the king said to those on His right hand, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” God said to Jeremiah, “Before you were born I chose you.”
Unlike the dogs at the shelter, we do not have to jump up and down or beg for God to pick us. He already did before we were born. Actually, He already did before the day He said, “Let there be light.” He knew us. He knew we would be here and He longs to have us with Him. That’s why Jesus told us to call His father our Father.
Written by Roger Bothwell on April 13, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org