“A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 10:10 KJV
I have to say that this is one of my FAVORITE verses, right now, because it reminds us that Jesus didn’t die JUST to make sure that we could spend eternity in heaven with Him, which is huge! But He came to give us LIFE! This weekend I fell in love… with a dog. His name is Rumpke – like the dumpster company. Well, as I was perusing the Hamilton County Humane Society website to try and find more information on him I came across the story of another dog. Her name is Stacia. Please take a minute and click here to watch the video of her story.
If you can’t get the link to work, this is Stacia’s story: Stacia, a pit bull, was left at the shelter by her original family, adopted and then shortly thereafter her new family came home one day to find her paralyzed from the waist down. They didn’t have the money to get her treated so they took her back to the Humane Society of Noblesville (a no-kill shelter) where they immediately rushed her over to the vet who did emergency surgery on her ruptured disk. She is currently recovering and undergoing water therapy to try and get the feeling back into her legs and paws so that she’ll be able to walk on all fours again, instead of two legs and two wheels!
In the video, the shelter representative explains how some people have questioned, why spend so much money (aprox. $3,500) on a dog in a shelter? A pit bull in a shelter no less? The first time I watched the video, I didn’t get to hear her response, because I was tearfully responding for her, “BECAUSE IT’S A LIFE!!!!” To so many people, Stacia is just a dog, but to God she’s a LIFE, part of His beautiful creation, and He loves her! Luke 12:6-7 says so: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Yet not one of them is forgotten by God, He doesn’t forget the animals. Watching that video really said so much to me about us as humans and the lengths that some of us are willing to go to help someone or something that could never repay us for our kindnesses. Luke 14:12-14 tells us “Then Jesus said to His host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'” The kindness that all the people at the Humane Society (and her previous owners by surrendering her instead of just giving up on her and letting her die) showed Stacia tremendous kindness, kindnesses that she will never be able to repay to them. But God can! Do everything in love, no matter who, or what, it’s for because God sees what is done in secret as well as what is done in public view and has the ability to bless you greatly for it. Take these people as an example! If they are willing to go to such great lengths to give a pit bull in a shelter a second chance at life, then aren’t we just as able to give our fellow human beings a second chance of any kind? God does it for us everyday!
P.S. More good news! Stacia has just been adopted!!!!!!! 😀
Tamar Knochel 