Walking to our local market, there was a little, furry pup walking down the road.
She was far too young and small to survive on the streets. As I approached her, she did all she could to hide. She clearly had been hurt by the people in the past. She darted left and right. Finally, caught in a corner, she submitted and allowed me to pick her up.
As I took her to our house, I noticed that this little girl was covered in fleas. Four flea treatments and a few hours later, she was cleaned of those wretched bugs. With a new bed prepped, we bid her a goodnight.
Despite all the effort, she still was very uncertain of our intentions.
She moved with a hope to trust us but filled with memories of being pushed away, seemingly waiting for me to betray her at some point.
Early in the morning, I woke up to check up on her.
Did she run away? Did she still not trust? Did she angrily destroy things in the backyard?
As I opened the door, I was quickly greeted by a little puppy, wagging her tail and rolling over to be petted! Truly a 180 from the night before.
On this day, she wanted nothing more than to be with me and play and love.
She filled my heart.
This puppy taught me a lot about evangelism.
No one is in line to become someone’s project or fit someone’s agenda.
There is, however, a void we have of being loved. We ALL have the desire to be loved.
1 John 3:11 This is a message you have heard since the beginning: We should love one another.
It can be easy to fall into a debate about doctrine and apologetics that go in circles focusing on who is “right and wrong”.
John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Jesus’ love is one referred to in Greek as “agape”. It describes a love that is unilateral, that He will love us even if it is not reciprocated. It is a love that is selfless and pure.
When our heart posture is without agenda and, instead, full of “agape” love is when we shine His light the brightest.
The desire we have is to be loved, not told we are wrong.
As for the puppy, we had no means to be able to keep her in this season. Taking her in for the night was just to love on her without an agenda.
After cleaning her up and feeding her, we promptly found her a home with a family in town.
And in a picture of the Gospel, the puppy was found as an orphan, totally unclean and filled with fear.
After being loved on, she was cleaned and taken into a loving family with no residue of her past.
From orphan to child.
