I went shopping with my daughter the other day. Or rather, I went with my daughter and her dog. We just transferred Trooper to Red Deer where he will take up guard duty at my daughter’s new home. He’s a big dog with a bigger bark and a mammoth doghouse, so we figured he’d be a good thing to have in her back yard. But there’s a problem. Trooper is a German Short-haired Pointer. Emphasis on the short-haired. He barely has enough to keep himself warm in the summer and it’s getting pretty obvious, with all that white stuff on the ground, that summer is long gone. So we took Trooper to the pet store to find him a new coat.
It was at this point that I noticed a rather remarkable change in old Troop. He is old, and moves pretty slowly most of the time, with his head down and his ears dragging. But when we stepped through the doors of that pet store, his nose took over. His ears perked up, his eyes brightened and he started to quiver. Maybe it was the parrot on the cash register that squawked at him as we came in. Maybe it was all those smells of cats, mice, and, delight of delights, birds. Whatever the reason, Trooper seemed to shed about 10 years right then, right there. He was instantly rejuvenated. He pointed at the parrot and snuffled the floor in search of those mice. He strained at his leash and wagged his stubby tail as we searched for doggy coats.
Once we had accomplished our purpose, we had to drag that dog out of the store. When we put him in the back seat of my car he plopped himself down, leaned his head on the back of the front seat and groaned as if to say, “Aw shucks, couldn’t you have left me there?” As we drove to my daughter’s home, I thought of all the instincts and training that had suddenly come alive in that dog. Given the right stimuli, he became a new creature, one that wasn’t old and slow but young and vibrant.
I’ve seen a similar thing happen with people. They arrive in a state of depression, dragging just like old Troop. Then they meet someone special and their eyes brighten. Their posture straightens. They seem to shed their burdens and become young again. That someone special is Jesus Christ, their brother, their friend, and their redeemer. The Psalmist, David, met Him and said, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases; he redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion. He satisfies my desires with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:3-5)
Are you feeling like an old dog, dragging its ears on the ground? You can be rejuvenated by Jesus. Why not seek Him out today?