“The Joy of the Master”
When I cried my heart out and took my beloved 15.5 year old dog Jake to the vet last week to “send him to heaven” (my version of euthanization), the Lord answered my prayer to give me wisdom through the veterinarian when the veterinarian diagnosed Jake with bone cancer and emphatically stated he wanted to try a special procedure and see if Jake could have a few more months of life. The procedure was exceedingly painful for Jake, but I was willing to give Jake one last chance. And off we went – home. Just this morning, the Lord blessed me once more through this dog who has already lived 2 to 3 years past the typical lifespan for his breed when I was spending time with the Lord and found Jake’s nose resting on the pages of my Bible. I looked down just for the heck of it to see what Jake was “reading” with his nose, and noticed the purple underlining I had used some time ago to highlight a verse I don’t even ever remember reading. I could not think of a more perfect, a more appropriate, and a more heart warming, and heart wrenching, scripture than this one to be what Jake had chosen to “read”:
“Enter into the joy of your master.” Matthew 25:23 KJV
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| 15.5 year old Jake approaching heaven, diagnosed with bone cancer, resting on the Bible……. |
Just as I had written recently, Jake’s love for me, and his constant pursuit of me, and his ever focus on me, and his continual desire to follow me around as much as possible, are humbling reminders that this is how I am to look to Jesus. With an unabashedly, unashamedly, continually seeking heart and focus. Literally, I am to follow Jesus, rendering my heart and life to him, day by day, moment by moment. Though I had already written on this, how the Lord showed me through Jake whom God had used me to rescue from challenging circumstances how I am called to follow my own rescuer, Jesus, I had not yet seen the lesson the Lord wanted to teach me today.
Jake’s pursuit of me is two-fold. He shows me his love for me, and his thankfulness for me and for what I have done and continue to do for him. And he follows me so he can experience the joy of being in my presence. To Jake, I am master. He experiences the joy of being in his master’s presence.
Following Jesus allows me to show the Lord my love, and my thankfulness for all He has done for me and continues to do for me. And following Jesus allows me to experience the joy of being in my master’s presence. Today, God showed me through Jake resting his nose on the very scripture I needed to read and remember that there is truly no greater joy than resting my eyes and heart and nose on the Lord and His Word – and to experience the utter joy, and freedom, and peace, and blessedness of being in His very presence.
2 Comments
Thank you for sharing this excellent post. Very inspiring! (as always, btw)
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