Lessons from a Black Lab
I had been sitting on the rock levy of the Arkansas River, praying and reading my Bible and watching the tug boats move some barges, when a pickup truck pulled up to the boat ramp with two men and two Black Labs in it. The two men and one of the dogs got out of the truck and began to walk down the ramp towards the river. The one dog that was still in the truck began to whine as the others moved away from the truck. I sat there thinking to myself... how mean can you get, to let one dog get out and then you tie the other one in the truck and make it stay there while it's friend, the other dog, was having all the fun.
I seemed to feel like the Lord was saying to me, "There is a lesson in this for you... Just watch." So I just sat there and watched the poor dog and wondered what lesson I could learn from all this. I wanted to go over to the truck and talk to the dog but thought better of it since I didn't know the men and they might think that I was doing something to their truck. So I just sat and watched.
Only a minute or two had passed. The men had not gotten to the river yet. Then a very amazing thing happened. One of the men turned and looked back at the truck and said to the dog that I thought was tied, "Do you want to come?" The dog gave a loud bark and began to jump around in the truck. I was thinking, "Well, it's about time, you jerk!" I waited on the man to go back to the truck to untie the dog so he could have some fun, too. But the man just said real loud, "Well, come on then!" Out of the truck came the dog and made a bee-line toward the man, and when he arrived he began to run around and around the man. The man was petting and loving the dog as well.
All the time I had thought bad thoughts about the man, but now I thought what a great guy he was. The dog had not been tired at all but was doing what his master told him to do.
What lesson did you get from this story? Well, here's what I got:
1. Training: from the master
2. Discipline: from the dog
3. Obedience: from the dog
4. Love: from the master and the dog
I seemed to feel like the Lord was saying to me, "There is a lesson in this for you... Just watch." So I just sat there and watched the poor dog and wondered what lesson I could learn from all this. I wanted to go over to the truck and talk to the dog but thought better of it since I didn't know the men and they might think that I was doing something to their truck. So I just sat and watched.
Only a minute or two had passed. The men had not gotten to the river yet. Then a very amazing thing happened. One of the men turned and looked back at the truck and said to the dog that I thought was tied, "Do you want to come?" The dog gave a loud bark and began to jump around in the truck. I was thinking, "Well, it's about time, you jerk!" I waited on the man to go back to the truck to untie the dog so he could have some fun, too. But the man just said real loud, "Well, come on then!" Out of the truck came the dog and made a bee-line toward the man, and when he arrived he began to run around and around the man. The man was petting and loving the dog as well.
All the time I had thought bad thoughts about the man, but now I thought what a great guy he was. The dog had not been tired at all but was doing what his master told him to do.
What lesson did you get from this story? Well, here's what I got:
1. Training: from the master
2. Discipline: from the dog
3. Obedience: from the dog
4. Love: from the master and the dog
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