Brooke didn’t see the very large black bear in her backyard until she heard her dachshund scream in stunned fear. “I was freaking out! I was screaming at it!” Moments before, at 7:30 p.m. on an August night, the 22-year-old Alaskan had let her two small dogs out into the backyard without paying attention to who their playmate might be. Suddenly she heard “the most horrible sound in the world.” Looking outside she saw her little Fudge being held in the bear’s jaws like a salmon. All she could think about was that her dog was going to be eaten alive!
Passion swept over the unarmed Brooke, and she charged from the safety of her home toward the bear. Reaching the bear, she punched it in the face. The startled bear opened its mouth, letting go of the dachshund’s neck. Brooke never thought about what she had done until after the fact. Brooke told a reporter, “It was a stupid thing, but I couldn’t help it.” It was a gutsy, loving, unplanned reaction, and, in her own words, “a stupid thing.”
Were you aware that you are loved in a courageous, deep, planned and thoughtful way? You and I have been trapped in trouble much worse than the dachshund’s. It’s hard to feel it without the jaws of a huge black bar clamped around our necks and with its big paws pulling us toward it. Maybe you can feel a danger like “the bear’s teeth,” if you take a moment to pull up the news and skim the headlines. Today’s headlines include: “Slaughter in Syria,” “Boys Hit With Hatchet Before Fire,” “New Feud Over Falklands Heats Up,” and “Can a Nuclear Iran Be Deterred?” That’s enough to make most thoughtful people “freak out,” but the real problem is what causes these headlines — sin. Sin, selfish disobedience to God, has gotten us all into serious trouble. Its teeth have clamped down on every one of us, and its claws grip us tightly. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). But it’s the love that meets the threat — intense, everlasting, purposeful and costly love — that impresses me.
Brooke, shaken up by the attack, said, “I wasn’t in my right mind at the moment. I’d never think of doing it again.” Impressive as her love was, it sure wasn’t premeditated. In contrast, God says, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:33The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3)). His love and care for us is so deep that He tells us, “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:1414But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)). He also makes His message to us deeply personal: “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)).
A small bite on her thumb and a severe shock were enough to make Brooke conclude, “It was a stupid thing, but I couldn’t help it.” Good thing the bear wasn’t any hungrier. At least it still had September to stock up on salmon for the winter. When a friend of Brooke’s came running toward them, the big black bear turned down the driveway and headed off into the bushes nearby. Fudge only suffered minor claw and bite marks. Brooke’s passionate “freaking out” saved the life of her pet at a pretty tiny price to her.
The price tag for the purposeful, planned, eternal love of Jesus Christ was far higher. He suffered rejection, insult, injustice, spitting, punching, beating, nails driven into His hands and feet and the torture of the cross. Then came the punishment by God for my sins and the sins of all who trust Him. Nothing was held back. Nothing was forgotten. “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)).
How will you respond to that love? I’m sure Fudge, the dog, was appreciative of Brooke’s love, but how have you responded to Christ’s love? Our response has everlasting consequences.