THE GREATEST GIFT EVER RECEIVED

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS POST, ALONG WITH MOST OF THE OTHERS WERE WRITTEN 7-10 YEARS AGO. The message is timeless but some references within the posts are outdated and do not apply to current day and time (2023). They were written when I had my other website, Abiding In The Vine. It does not exist any longer.

I am one of these folks that believes that everything happens for a reason and most of those things, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant, are learning opportunities… or in my case learning and writing opportunities.   So, with that said, I want to share a couple of things from today with you. 

I was in a general store today that is right around the corner from my house.  This is one of those kinds of stores that you can buy bird seed, bird houses, dog food, dog houses, hay, lawn mowers, weed eaters and even all the equipment and instructions to make your own wine or beer?  Not sure which it is… nonetheless, they have just about everything in that general store.  I have always loved going to those kinds of places.  I guess that started when I used to go with my dad to the feed store in a little town we used to live in.  Not that we had any kind of cattle to feed or even feed the wild birds back then, I am really not sure why we would go there… it was probably also a hardware kind of store too, because I love hardware stores too.  Anyway, back to this one I was in today.  I picked up a package of dog chews that I had always wondered about. Now I have had the usual dog chews and they always concerned me because my little girl dachshund got one stuck in her throat once and I had to go in after it.  It was just too small for her, I guess… I should have thrown it away long before, she just chewed it faster than I thought she would.  Anyway, these that I saw today are not your usual dog chew.  These were Himalayan Dog Chews.  They consist of Yak and Cow milk, salt and lime juice.  I talked to the young lady at the register, and she explained a few things to me about them, so I said what the heck, I will try one package.  In one package there are 3 chews.  I have 2 dogs… hummm… so I will have to buy another package one day soon, I guess… lol.  Anyway, I came home with my Yak milk chews and offered it to each of my pups.  Now one of my “pups” is a 27- 28 or more-pound male Standard Dachshund named Zuckie.  The other is a 14 pound (should be 10) female Miniature Dachshund named Liesel.  The package said these chews were for dogs 30 pounds and below, I think.  Anyway, I offered it to them and of course they took them right away and acted like it was the best gift they had ever received.

Now my boy, the big guy, has a stash hideout under the bench that is up against the wall behind our dining room table.  All of his toys are there, not that he actually plays with them anymore, but he chews on them occasionally, I think.  I think he actually thinks that Liesel cannot find things there… but somehow, she actually does… oh well.  So, he goes to his hide-e-hole and begins to chew away.  She begins looking for a place to stash it, but in a very good hiding place, under a blanket in her bed.  Then she moves it to another one of her beds but stashes it under the folds of the blanket of this bed.  After she stashes it in the 2^nd place, she lays on the floor facing the bed and watches it.  She laid there for a good 15 minutes before she even moved. 

Meanwhile, my boy is chewing away on his chew under the bench, happy as a clam.  I have to leave for a few minutes and when I came back, mom tells me that Liesel had taken it out of her bed and put it under the blanket on the pillow on the couch.  She was frantically trying to find “the best spot” to hide this bone.  She had not chewed it once!  She was just spending her time hiding it. 

I began to think… hummm… maybe it was too fat for her to chew.   Maybe she would begin chewing on it if, say… I traded her the one Zuckie, my boy, was chewing on and gave him a brand new one… the one she had been hiding.  Oh, that worked beautifully for her…. But Zuckie was none too happy with mommy.  He wouldn’t have anything to do with the new one… or the one she kept hiding… and he proceeded to his bed and pouted. 

Meanwhile, Liesel is sprawled out just chewing away.  I take the new chew over to Zuckie in his bed and he would barely even look at me.  Oh, My Goodness… he gets his feelings hurt so easily.  Really, he does.  So, I pondered it for a while.  Then I looked down and Liesel had quit chewing on her chew, and she was under her blanket in her bed.  So, I took the chew back to him, this is the original chew he had.   NOPE!  He wouldn’t have anything to do with that one either!  Oh my, I have really upset him.  I felt so bad that I had done that… but now what do I do?  So… about an hour later, I go over to his bed, lay down next to his bed and start talking to him.  I felt so bad, and I apologized to him and laid there and consoled him and even had a tear in my eye when I did.  He knew it too because he sniffed my face and my eyes.  You see, we treat our dogs like family in my house.  They are a part of us, and we love them very much.  This boy dog, Zuckie, is a very special kind of guy.  He detects my mom’s high blood pressure spikes and protects her a lot.  He consoles my dad when he is not feeling well and so this guy is a very special kind of boy to us, and to have hurt his feelings, well, it just about crushed my heart.  So, I was very sincere when I was down there talking to him.  The first time when I offered him the new chew, I was just trying to get him to take it, not really being that sincere.  But this time… I meant it with my whole heart, and I believe he recognized that.  Why?  Because this time he laid his head all the way outside his bed to touch my face and gave me a couple of big, fast kisses!  Yep, he forgave me.  The next thing I knew he was under his bench with the new chew and happy as a clam again.  And little girl had not touched hers again but has tried to get his out from his hide-e-hole.  Oh, the drama we have here. 

Now I have said all of this to get to this… There are a couple of ways I want to go with this.  One is how do we treat the greatest gift we have ever received?  I guess I should ask first what is the best gift you have ever received?  Think about it, as a Christian?  What is the best gift?  As for me, that would be the gift of Salvation because of what my Jesus Christ has done for me.  Now, hopefully you understand and hopefully, if you know Jesus, that is your answer too.  Anyway, what do you do with your favorite gift that Christ has given you?  Do you 1) go and hide it like Liesel does her new chew? Or 2) enjoy it like Zuckie? 

So, you say, well, how do you enjoy it?  Well, I enjoy mine by waking up every morning and looking forward to another day to praise my God for.  I enjoy my salvation by telling others about what Jesus had done for me.  I enjoy my salvation by reading my Bible and telling you all what I have learned.  I enjoy my salvation by recognizing things in this big, beautiful world and praising God for giving us such a beautiful world.  I enjoy my salvation by sharing time with my wonderful ladies in my Sunday School class.  I enjoy my salvation by singing hymns and praises to God and Jesus Christ on Sunday morning in worship service.  There are so many ways I enjoy my salvation.  I could not possibly list them all here on this post.  But I think you get the picture. 

Now my question to you is, do you hide this wonderful gift of salvation or do you tell others?  Do you enjoy each day and thank God for the air you breath?  Do you share your salvation with friends or family?  If you do not share it, how will others know about this Jesus and His wonderful gift?   We must be about telling others and living so others can see Him in us.  That is what Jesus told the disciples to do 2000 years ago…

Matthew 28:19-20

¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

That is enjoying the salvation that Jesus has given with His death on the cross because IT IS the greatest gift ever given or received!

The other direction that I would like to go with this is another post.  I will do that tomorrow.  Remember God loves you so much! He calls you His beloved!

Leah
Le**@My*******.com