I saw a picture of a dog and you could just tell that dog was happy. It wasn’t an expensive, purebred dog. When you ask the people what breed he is, they say he’s a genuine dog, because his mother and father were both dogs.

They picked up the dog as a stray. Very neglected. So weak that he couldn’t even stand. He was seriously ill with sores all over his body. They took him home to spend his last few hours peacefully.

But the dog didn’t give up. For some reason the dog kept fighting, forcing water drop by drop into his body. He could only swallow a few drops of the milky food they fed him.

Today the dog’s joy knows no end. He jumps and barks. He licks your hands and when you sit down, he will soon lick your whole face. Some will probably think it’s gross, but this dog is the epitome of joy.

Almost dead and now he jumps around. It was most likely the love and care he experienced with these people for the first time so near the end of his life that made him fight for his life. A glimmer of hope made him fight.

Love does that. Love makes one grasp at straws. Love makes you do things you didn’t know you could do. Love motivates. Love tries again. Love gives hope. Love gives life.

Before, we didn’t know true love either. We were also on the street at first. Thrown away. Starved. Lost. Until we bumped into the love of God. Then there was hope. Then there was a future, and then the joy that goes beyond human understanding found a place within us.

¹⁰… the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

God loves us so much that He had no choice but to send His own Son to earth giving His own life so that we do not have to die for the sin we commit.

What greater proof is there of true love? Self-sacrificing love. Own Son’s sacrificial love. God’s love for you is so great that He could not stop Himself from saving you who was dying, who was lost, who was stuck in the mud, from eternal death.

The question now is: What do we do with that love? Do we live a life of gratitude where we jump up and down like the dog that cannot control its dances of joy? Or are we still living like stray dogs in the streets of the world?

Maybe we have to go and sit quietly and allow God’s love, our heavenly Father’s love, to permeate us. Allow the Holy Spirit to warm your heart with the overflowing love that God has for us lost people. Then go live a life jumping for joy, dancing, and making everything beautiful everywhere you go.

Scripture
1 Peter 2:9-12

Reflection
What do you do with God’s love?
Do you live a life of gratitude where you jump up and down like a dog that can’t control its dances of joy?
Or are we still living like stray dogs on the streets of the world?

Prayer
Father, I rejoice in Your love. It’s bubbling inside me! May I live Your love today and make a difference everywhere I go. Amen.