As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians 4:1
“Your dog thinks you are amazing. Your dog thinks you are billiant. Your dog thinks you are trustworthy and reliable to the highest possible degree. When was the last time you said to your dog, “Hey do you want to go for a walk?” And your dog looked at you skeptically? … They believe us. Our words have weight with our dogs. Can you imagine how incredible it would be if everybody thought as highly of you as your dog does? Can you imagine if everybody thought you were as trustworthy and reliable as your dog does? Can you imagine if for everybody else your words had as much weight as they do for your dog… Be the person your dog thinks you are.”
Craig Smith in his Mission Hills sermon on the Third Commandment entitled “Be the person your dog thinks you are” delivered on 18-19 September 2021.
So, in case you missed the sad news I mentioned in yesterday’s Daily Meditation, our 13+ year old German Shorthaired Pointer, Joy St. Clare (pictured above at the favorite view point on our twice daily walk for years), died peacefully with Jenni and me by her side on Sunday morning.
Not only did she walk us twice daily about a mile or so, she hunted pheasant seasonally for about a decade, and was a trusted companion to Jenni whenever I would travel. Her passing came weeks after I heard this sermon, and Smith’s words are ringing in my ears with her passing.
Joy would want me to keep being the person she thought I was. She was so well trained and obedient to commands that we often referred to her as the “remote control” dog. She froze when we shouted “Whoa!” Even if a pheasant was right in front of her, and jumped at it when we said, “Hunt it up!”
She loved me. She cared for me well. And I think she’s telling me to be amazing, to be brilliant, to be trustworthy and reliable to the highest possible degree. And even as she belonged to me, she would tell me that I belong to Christ and to keep living a life worthy of my calling.
And she would say to be as generous as I can be. I will. Join me. If you are not a dog lover, well, I don’t kwow what to say other than the fact that Joy made me a better person. Gave me exercise. Taught me about grace. Taught me so much more. I need to mine it over the next few days. I’m just getting started.