I was watching the morning news today and it showed a short clip of a little boy with Down’s Syndrome and a yellow labrador retriever. The story was the little boy didn’t like to be touched. He wasn’t big on physical contact. The dog would touch him with his foot and the little boy would back up. The dog gently, but diligently kept at it until the boy relented and leaned into him and gave him a hug. I’m a sucker for YouTube and I couldn’t help myself; I went and got my laptop so I could see the full video. It was one of the most innocent, beautiful pictures I have ever seen of God’s love. I have shared a link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA8VJh0UJtg
The first thing that jumped into my mind is that Jesus loves children. I have always told my own kids that children are his favorite. They are the most innocent and the most open minded. They are most likely to believe and accept faith at face value. Jesus said “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left. Matthew 19:14-15 NLT Need I say more?
The second thing that sprang to my mind is that our relationship with Jesus is a lot like this lab and this little boy. He’s gentle, but relentless in his pursuit of us. He wants a lifelong relationship and he’s not willing to take no for an answer. He can’t get enough of us. He’s wants to run and play and sit and contemplate. He wants to hold our hands and lean in for a hug. He wants to stand by us in the good times and the bad. He will be our faithful friend as well as our fearless protector and we will never encounter more loyalty in any relationship. All we have to do is ask.
This short video has had 10 million hits, 10 million. Think about that number for a minute. That’s more than the entire population of the state of Georgia. What does the viral success of this video tell us? I think it says that we are longing for more beauty in our lives. We are longing for more gentleness, patience, kindness, and faithfulness . We are longing for a happy ending. What we are longing for, is more Jesus.
Guess what? I have great news. All we have to do is open our hearts and ask and we can have all of the above for eternity. Check out the clip and then say a prayer of thanks to our heavenly father for children and dogs. They really do represent some of God’s best work.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂