Memory Verse: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:2020Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
Skippy is an unusual dog. He has a glossy, brown coat, loves to be petted, and has endless energy. But that is not what makes him special. Skippy is a hearing-ear dog. He has been trained to help people who are deaf, like his owner Janet.
What a change Skippy has made in Janet’s life! Before Skippy came Janet was not able to hear sounds most of us hear every day. Skippy has been trained to alert Janet to the sound of an alarm clock, a smoke alarm, a doorbell or knock on the door, a telephone ring, or the buzz of an oven timer.
“Before I got Skippy, the house could have been on fire, and I wouldn’t have known it,” said Janet. “Now if the smoke alarm goes off, he’s jumping all over me.” Janet showed Skippy’s skill by setting off the smoke alarm. Skippy cocked his ear and almost immediately began running in circles. Then he went directly to Janet and pawed at her dress. When she got up to follow him, Skippy headed for the smoke alarm on the ceiling, looking back to make sure Janet was following him.
“If the phone were ringing Skippy would take me to the phone. If the doorbell rings or someone knocks, he leads the way to the door,” said Janet. “When my alarm clock goes off in the morning, he jumps up on the bed and licks my face to awaken me.”
Skippy must not get his sounds mixed up, or he would be of no help to Janet at all. If when he heard the smoke alarm he led her to the telephone, or if when the alarm clock rang he ran to the door, Janet would not get the correct message.
Just as Skippy has to listen carefully to the sounds he hears, we must listen carefully to what God has to say to us. In Revelation 3:2020Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20) He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Do you hear His knock? Have you answered it by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour and confessing Him with your mouth as your Lord (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9))?
Just as Skippy has to listen carefully all the time, we need to read the Bible every day so we can hear and understand what God has to say to each of us.
ML-09/19/1982