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