Jaco was a large black dog who knew how to act ferocious. He would show his teeth and growl at strangers. His owner, Mr. Alan, had taught him to do that because he worked at the prison in the next town and he didn’t want any escaped prisoner to cause him trouble. But underneath that ferocious act, Jaco was a happy, fun-loving dog.
Jaco had no other dogs around to play with, so he made fun for himself. The neighbor children saw him do this when Mr. Alan rotovated his garden. Jaco would take his tennis ball, run and drop it in front of the tractor and then scamper out of the way to wait. When the tractor passed where he had left the ball, Jaco would run to the freshly plowed earth, sniffing excitedly until he smelled his ball. Then dirt would fly from his hind legs until he found the ball, and he would run around to the front of the tractor to do it again.
Jaco was a smart dog and he knew this action would have fun consequences. Do you know what consequences are? They are what happen because of what we do. When we’re kind, the consequences are good, but when we’re mean, we can expect bad consequences. People sin and God says that sin comes with the consequence of death. But God loves us, and He knows we are all sinners, so He provided Jesus to pay our debt of sin. Jesus took our punishment on the cross so now we don’t have to suffer the consequences for our sin. A good prayer is: “God, be merciful to me a sinner, and please save me, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” (See Luke 18:1313And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. (Luke 18:13).)
Messages of God’s Love 5/18/2025