Robert Black, a seven-year-old boy had a dog named “Queenie.” One day the “dog-catchers” got her, and carried her away to the pound; for, sad to say, she had no license-tag. My boy—readers know what an exciting day it is when the dog-catchers come around, especially if you happen to have a pet without a tag.
The cost of a license was $3.00, which must be paid before his dog could go free. Robert had no money, but he loved Queenie, and he must get her out some way. It was nearly three miles to the dog-pound, and he walked all the way. Finding a stray dog, he took him along, and asked the Superintendent to exchange Queenie for him. His idea seemed to be that “a dog was a dog,” and that the demands of justice would be satisfied by giving, one for the other. But the strange dog must account for his own tagless condition, and instead of being accepted in Queenie’s place was subject to his own penalty.
That will help you to understand how that none of us human beings “can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom. for him” (Psa. 49:77None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (Psalm 49:7).) We could not take another’s punishment, because we deserve punishment for our own sins.
When Robert was allowed to see Queenie “behind the bars,” the boy broke into tears, and his pet “carried on something furiously,” according to the newspaper account. Mr. P., the Superintendent, is seven times seven years old, and he loves boys and dogs. He felt something tugging at his heartstrings. Once upon a time, when he was a boy, he lost his dog, and a man helped him find it again. He offered to pay the $3.00 for a license for Queenie out of his own pocket, and you can imagine how Robert’s eyes glistened with smiles through the tears.
The Superintendent, being free from the law against stray dogs, could redeem Queenie at his own expense.
In the same way, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners,” gave Himself a ransom for us, and God can now be “just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.”
Queenie had three puppies, which Robert said he would sell for $1 each, and then return and pay back the $3, but Mr. P. said it was worth that much to see the boy happy with his dog again.
Queenie must be redeemed as a free gift from the Superintendent, or not at all. So there is nothing that you and I need to do for our salvation, and if we tried to do or give something, it would not be accepted. We must accept salvation as a free gift from the Lord Jesus, who paid the penalty in full. And it makes Him very happy when a boy or girl trusts Him and gets saved. It is a happy time both in heaven and on earth.
Really, it strikes me that we are all very much like that dog. Because of our sins, we are all condemned, and not entitled to life under the eyes of the law. In the case. of Queenie it was not that she had bitten anybody, but she was not redeemed. And the main question before God is not whether you have sinned much or little, but whether you have accepted the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. She was not protected by the tag, and therefore not entitled to live. So “he that believeth not, is condemned already” (John 3:1818He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)).
If you are not protected by His precious blood, judgment, like the dog-catcher, is on your track. Indeed, you are like Queenie who was allowed to live a few days in the pound instead of being put to death at once, to give her a chance to be redeemed; for it is only the grace of God that you have been spared to this day that you might have another opportunity to receive the free gift of eternal life.
Mr. P, the Superintendent, acted very much like the Lord Jesus on this occasion. He was the agent of justice and must fulfill the demand of the law; yet his heart was full of love and kindness, and he willingly paid the penalty himself so that the law could be satisfied, and the dog go away with her master.
How remarkably this reminds us of Him who was once here on earth, a boy and then a man, and who loves boys and girls (and older folks too) so much that He paid the price with His own blood to satisfy a holy God about our sins and set us free. How happy He will be, and you too, if you will now accept His free gift of pardon and eternal life.
ML 01/09/1938