“Scoot . . . go outside!”
Hearing that angry voice and with a little help out the door, Nipper seemed to know that he was not wanted in that house. Down the back porch steps and out into the cold rain, the little brown and white dog was led to the cold garage.
Poor Nipper was lost. He had followed a little girl home from school who had petted him and seemed friendly. But her mother had not seemed so friendly. They had found out from his collar tag that his name was Nipper, but he was not welcome in their house.
He had wandered away from his home and gotten lost. For two days he had roamed around looking for his home. No one seemed to care about a little lost dog, and he had not found very much to eat. He could not have known that there were four children at home crying for him, and that they had been hunting and calling for him during those two days.
That evening the friendly little girl told her daddy about the little dog that had followed her home from school. Later, as he was reading the paper, he suddenly asked her, “Is that little dog brown and white?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Is the name on his tag Nipper?”
“Yes it is, Daddy.”
“It says here in the ‘Lost and Found’ column that someone has lost a little brown and white dog with that name. Is he still around?”
“I think he’s out by the garage, trying to keep dry,” his daughter answered, relieved. “Want me to check?”
Nipper was still there, and after a telephone call Nipper heard the familiar voices of four children calling him. Their parents had driven them over to pick up their lost pet.
I wonder if any lost boys or girls are reading this story today. Do you know that in the Bible God talks about “lost” and “found” people? Some boys and girls are “lost,” but some have been “found,” and they are so happy!
God describes the lost ones very carefully. He says they have sinned and cannot go to heaven. The name they carry is “sinner.” They cannot find their way to heaven by themselves.
Someone is searching for lost boys and girls like you. “The Son of man [the Lord Jesus Christ] is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10. He loves you very much. If you will let Him find you and wash away your sins, you will no longer be “LOST,” instead you will be “FOUND.” Then someday He will welcome you into His home called heaven.
“All 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.
ML-10/24/1993