When the Name Matches the Man, or Animal!

When The Name Matches the Man, or AnimalDr. Vince Hefner, PastorFirst Baptist ChurchCherryville, North CarolinaMy mother always taught me to respect and love animals. We always had pets, mostly cats and dogs, but I would catch the occasional snake or rabbit and attempt to domesticate them to my world. It never worked. I believe it is impossible to teach a snake to fetch a stick and if I let my wild rabbit go for a walk, he would never come back home. There are some animals you just can't trust! Anyway, we showed kindness to all creatures and made them feel welcome when they stayed at our home.One challenge that we faced when we brought a new animal into the family was what to name it. I liked to name my pets after people I admired. It makes no sense to name a pet after someone you don't like, or a name that is not Southern. I chose names likes "John, Joe, Lady, Rusty, etc..." so they would not feel embarrassed when I called them for supper. Can you imagine being a dog and your owner naming you Rothschild? I did not want my dogs teased by the other dogs, so I went after the macho names. We did have a poodle one time who was named Pierre, but that's a different story because you can't name a poodle Lefty or Mack.One day my mother arrived home from work (she managed a moving company) with a new dog. He was an adult dog who was a mixed breed. She said he showed up at her work and she was afraid he was going to get run over by a car. We were all excited about our new pet but we had a problem, what do you name an adult dog? After a few weeks of different names, my mother came home and reported the name of the dog. By chance the owner of the dog was a truck driver who had dropped off some furniture at my Mom's business and the dog had gotten out of the truck without the driver's knowledge. He had made a few more stops before he noticed his dog missing and didn't know what had happened to him. He called and asked her if she had seen a dog with an exact description of our new dog. It was a dead on match. He told my mother we could keep the dog and his name was "Lonesome." Now the puzzle was complete, we knew the name of the dog and from whence he had come, and the man said we could keep him. He was now officially our dog!Everything was going fine with our new pet until one day Mom came home from work with some bad news. She said the man who once owned the dog had called and said he wanted his dog back. We were devastated and begged our Mom not to give Lonesome back to that man. On a Saturday morning we said our goodbyes to Lonesome and Mom took him to meet his old owner. She did not want us to go because she knew we would cause a scene. She was probably right. Within the hour she returned home without Lonesome. My brother, sister, mother, and I cried. Then Mom told us what happened. She said that when she arrived at her work, the driver was in the cab of his truck doing some paperwork. She let out Lonesome and he was walking around with his back to the truck. The man got out of his truck, bent down on his knee and called out in a soft voice, "Lonesome." The dogs ears perked up and he turned around and saw his master. He ran over to him and jumped in his arms. The man cried tears of joy to have his friend back.When Mom told us that story it made me feel better. The dog knew his master's voice and he was where he wanted to be. How important is it to know the Master's voice? John 10:4-5 says, "And the sheep follow him because they know his voice. And a stranger they simply will not follow, but flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." It is my prayer that you know the voice of Jesus Christ, and that He is the Master of your life. Remember, don't give in to sin. Think about it!