There was once a man who'd had some sheep killed and suspected a dog of doing it. He told his neighbors he'd kill the next dog that he saw on his property. That dog was named "Old Drum". The owner sued and abandoning all the testimony given these were the dog owner's lawyer's closing remarks in defense of the canine.

 

Gentlemen of the Jury, the best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.

 

Gentleman of the Jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and the sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert he remains. When riches take wings and reputation fall to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. if fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

 

The lawyer won, all the way to the supreme court of the state of Missouri, and because of the strong sentiment folks raised a bronze statue of the dog in front of the courthouse that is there to this day. The year was 1869.

 

About two thousand years ago, a man who'd been trying to save some sheep was put on trial by the very ones who had been killing them. He didn't have a lawyer, he didn't have flowing, gracious words to rally public opinion to his defense. In fact he said nothing, and in his silence he was carrying out a plan devised by God that offered us our only hope of salvation. He was also a friend who would be with us always, prince or pauper. He was also a friend who would never abandon us, being faithful and true even to death. And that was the sentence he got, death, for our sins not his. In this he was our true friend.

 

The court case at the start of this article was the origin of the phrase "Man's Best Friend" which we associate with a dog even now. Yet this is not a bulletin that compares a dog to the Christ. The dog, created by the Christ, lives the example of a faithful life that we should be living. The dog judges us, and sets the bar high. Don't we think we are better than a dog? Then why do so many of us not act like it?

 

And one last thought - often we sing "I'll be a friend to Jesus", but is he our friend? Words are cheap. Beware we, may be living our lives in such a way that on that final day he will say depart, I never knew you.  Think about it.

                                                                                                        Randy