Sunday Message

Good Sunday Morning! Had thought about doing this live, but my internet has so many peaks and valleys down here in the country, I just knew it would be a waste of time. But I still have a message this morning. For the first time in many years, on Sunday morning, I didn't have to get up early, shower, and get dressed in something besides jeans. I was still in the bed, and I looked down at Taylor (our Shih Tzu) in his bed beside us. I thought about how he loves us, and of course we love him. Then a Bible verse came to me. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son..." Let's stop right there a moment. Research has shown that a dog will, and does, love you even if you don't feed him. A dog will love you even if you abuse him. A dog still loves you even you don't pay much attention to him. Now most of us that have dogs treat them as one of the family. Sometimes our dogs are treated better than some people treat their children! I would love to have Taylor's life! He never has to worry about food...supper is always there. Water; always there. Warm place in the winter, and cool in the summer. He has his own bed...in reality he has 3 beds. Gets great medical care. NO fleas, no ticks, and gets a hair cut regularly. Shih Tzus as they get older sleep as much as 20 hours a day. Man what a life!!! He is loved...oh how he is loved. Tammy and I have no children together, so Taylor is the child we did not have! LOL Sometimes Tammy treats Taylor better than she does me! For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. How do we treat the SON...Jesus??? I think in reality some of us treat our dogs better. You say really??? Well let's look at it. We feed our dog every day. Do we feed our soul every day? Do we really take time to read our Bible and marvel at God's love? How many times a day do we pray? DO we even pray ONE time a day? So, I will ask again; Do we feed our soul every day? I think more times than not we abuse God's love. Today some states have made it a felony to abuse an animal. I do believe we abuse God's love. Have you really noticed how a dog looks at you...such love in his eyes?? I believe God looks at us the same way!! He has such a desire to be a part of our lives, and want to be your best friend...but we ignore him. Sometimes we take him out to play...Sunday Morning. We love to share pictures of our pets...but do we share Jesus? We just put Jesus on the back shelf, pull him out on Sunday Morning to show Him off as we track on down to the church house. As I said early in this message, we treat our dogs as family. Think about how different your relationship with Jesus would be..... if you treated him as family? If you spent as much time with Jesus as you do with your dog, how different would your relationship be? How different would your life be? I'm going out on a limb here...but I bet you that Jesus would be thrilled if you treated HIM, and spent as much time with HIM, as you do the family dog. If you loved HIM like you do the dog. If you fed your soul as well as you feed the dog. We are told that a dog is man's best friend. Our life with our dog is short, as dogs only live a short time. Our life with Jesus is eternal. I think we need to understand that dogs are great, but Jesus is really our best friend. How do you treat HIM? In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.