MR. AND MRS. Jacob Zanger and their children lived on a farm in Kansas. Times were hard and they were almost penniless, so they decided to move to Monterey, California. They had a dog, a chow, named Missy, whom they loved dearly, but Mr. Zanger insisted that they could not afford to keep Missy any longer. Leaving the dog with a kind neighbor, the Zanger family drove away one morning.
At first Missy refused to stay with her new owner, returning each night to the deserted Zanger farmhouse. And finally, after a week of disappointed waiting, the dog disappeared.
Ten months passed. The Zangers were now settled in their new home in Monterey, California, where the father had found work. But even though the parents had said they could now afford to keep a dog, the children refused to consider adopting another.
One day, as the youngest child was walking home from school, a dirty-looking dog came rushing toward him. The little boy was frightened at the wild-eyed and bony animal charging him. He turned to run but the dog was on him in a moment her tail wagging, her tongue covering the child’s face with kisses. It was Missy, of course, who somehow had traveled more than 1,500 miles to find her “family.” The story of her ten-month journey will never be known, but as any chow owner will affirm, Missy would never have stopped searching until she had drawn her last breath.
Dear faithful Missy! The story of her devotion to the family she loved thrills our hearts. Surely it was love that carried her on and on, over those seemingly endless miles, until she found herself “home” at last. In the last glimpse we have of her she is in the midst of her family circle, loved and caressed, by the children especially. Their joy and hers knows no bounds — she is supremely happy her cup is full.
Well, this happy picture leads our thoughts to the more wonderful story of a much longer journey, and of a surpassing love. The Lord Jesus left His home in the glory and came down to this world to seek and to save lost sinners, that He might have them in that same glory with Himself. But how different Missy’s welcome to His! Except for a few poor folks whose hearts God had prepared to receive Him, there was no welcome for Him in this cold world. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” John 1:1111He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11). He had to say, “They rewarded Me evil for good, and hatred for My love.” Psa. 109:55And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. (Psalm 109:5).
But the Father who sent Him will not be thwarted in His purposes of love, for through the work of His dear Son He is going to fill heaven with His redeemed family, and His house shall be a place of song. There the ransomed from earth will sing the praise of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. May grace find you among that number, dear young reader.
Then, like Missy, we too are all on a journey, traveling on to eternity. “Sweet the thought that some are going to the realms of perfect day” to be united with loved ones gone before, to be forever with Jesus in love and happiness untold.
But for those who won’t have the Saviour and spurn His love, to leave this world will be to pass out into the regions of darkness, misery and despair, where there will be no love or comfort of friends — only “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 8:1212But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:12).
ML-12/20/1970