February 9, 2015

Adventist Life

Most nights before I drift off into restful slumber, I check the New Brunswick, Canada, animal shelter Facebook page for updates: who’s been adopted, and new cats or dogs who have joined the medley of shelter life. One night my eyes were drawn to an appeal that was especially poignant.

It read in part, “Sweet senior in need of his forever home. Fourteen years on a chain. Can you offer him a year or two (or more) of friendship and trust in a loving home? Beau is a 14-year-old mixed-breed dog. He was brought in by the NBSPCA with medical issues, for which he will have surgery and be treated with antibiotics. He will also be neutered and receive a haircut to remove his mass of tangled fur. This dog is supersweet and looking for a safe, warm, comfortable, INDOOR retirement home.”

A picture accompanied this plea for Beau. He was asleep on his very first warm and soft indoor bed. A long-overdue rescue.

Nikita is also one of the most recent dogs to come to the shelter. She hasn’t had a lot of social interaction with people and other dogs. She was tied to her doghouse outside for some time. Though told that she wasn’t good with other dogs, Nikita was taken to a dog park, where she had an opportunity for lots of social interaction with humans and other dogs. It was discovered that Nikita has wonderful dog skills. It hasn’t taken her long to enjoy her freedom. When she first came to the shelter, I was told she was afraid to walk on the floor because she had never been inside with her humans. She will be placed in foster care for some much-needed TLC.

Too Many Sad Stories

Too many of these shelter animals have similar stories. Pregnant cats or mother cats with kittens taken to the country and left in the woods or on the side of the road—or worse. Dogs pushed out of moving cars. A person who witnessed one such deed re-counted that the distraught, terrified animal scrambled to his feet and frantically ran after the fleeing vehicle, trying to catch up to the master who had so cruelly abandoned him. The poor dog was seemingly unable to comprehend that his trusted master could be responsible for his state of panic.

The unconditional and forgiving love that I have seen so many of these animals demonstrate has touched my heart again and again. That’s what keeps me returning to this house of neglected and abandoned animals. Some beaten, some starved, some frozen—all abandoned by the people to whom they look for loving care. The same people for whom most of these dogs would sacrifice their own safety and well-being to protect from danger. All they want is to be loved by their beloved masters.

Tethered in Sin

These scenarios are not just sad realities of irresponsible and uninformed pet owners. They are conscious thoughts that are imprinted in this sometimes-befuddled mind of mine on the state of humans “tethered in sin,” sometimes feeling alone, neglected, abandoned, and hopeless, subject to a cruel and heartless master.14 1 1

My husband often encourages me to watch the evening news with him. The few times I have done so in recent years, I have been left with a sorrowful burning in my heart for the plight of God’s creation. I fear that if I were to view the happenings of the world around me night after night, I might be plunged into a depressive state of mind. Is there anything happening other than robberies, murders, political unrest, cruelties, tortures, poverty, and treachery to report to the millions of viewers who feed on the daily affairs of humankind? The debauchery of humans without God is a frightening and sad reality. The depths of evil in the world are beyond the comprehension of one who is not submerged in that reality.

What of the children born into homes that deny them the love and attention that should be their due? Neglected, abused, deprived, and stunted in mental stimulation and growth, they are at the mercy of the behavior of their elders toward them. This behavior is perpetuated into their own lives unless they are fortunate enough to be rescued from such a life by one who is able to mentor them into a more hopeful and loving relationship. Oh, that there might be more of these mentors!

“Tethered in sin.” Is that the legacy of this fallen world subjugated by an especially cruel, coldhearted, and merciless master whose heart is closed against all virtue? One who has claimed this world and all in it to be his to deceive and torment? Many in the world do not realize the master they have chosen and what his desire is for them. They follow his bidding oblivious to the disastrous end he has planned for them.

Is There Hope?

Is there any hope for the condition of this world and its inhabitants?

The psalmist writes, “Lord, without You, what hope do I have? I put full confidence in You” (Ps. 39:7, Clear Word).1 The apostle Paul writes, “It is through Jesus Christ that we have gained access to God, having been brought in to His grace. We rejoice in the hope of sharing in His glory. We can even be joyful when we go through hardships, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, and patient endurance produces strength of character, and character gives us unshakable hope. Such hope will not disappoint us, because God has also poured out His love on us by giving us the Holy Spirit as a down-payment for an endless future” (Rom. 5:2-5, Clear Word).

Praise God! All He asks from His crippled children is our love and obedience so that He might make us new creations in Him, so we might serve Him as our new loving and compassionate master. A master who gave His life and more for His unworthy children. A master willing to forgive our foolish ways and receive us with open arms. A master waiting to take us home, where we will live with Him in the paradise He has prepared for us. A long-awaited rescue.

It’s not like poor Beau—finding a loving home for the few short years he has left to live. Oh, and yes, Beau’s good future is assured. A number of people responded, offering to give this boy a great home and provide him with the love and quality care that will hopefully extend the last few years of his life.

Jesus offers us a life of peace and joy, a life of freedom from the sin that binds those tethered in the chains of sin that Satan so cleverly enveloped them in. We need not wait to experience the joys of heaven, for serving a Master who loves and cares for us allows us to taste the sweetness of what’s to come. Jesus’ rescue is not for just a few years. He is offering us eternity. Forever and forever. When that small black cloud appears in the east, the one that surrounds our returning Lord,2 I want to hear those coveted words from the lips of Jesus, my Savior, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9). I want to rise up to meet my Lord in the air and forever be with my Lord and loving Master.

How about you?


  1. Texts credited to Clear Word are from The Clear Word, copyright © 1994, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006 by Review and Herald Publishing Association. All rights reserved.
  2. See Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911),pp. 640, 641.
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