Ramblings from Retirement – Change Is Good

Ramblings from Retirement – Change Is Good

By Pastor Lee Hemen

April 30, 2021

As I was going through some old photos I got from my brother’s house I found some of an old dog we used to have; his name was Duke. He was a boxer and had the classic clipped ears and tail. Duke lived for about 18 years and was a good old dog but there was one thing he would do that was very hilarious. He would get downright contrite and embarrassed if you chastised him. He would hang his head, lie down, and roll his eyes and make light grumbling noises as if he were saying, “It wasn’t me, it’s not my fault.” My Mom would take great delight in asking him, “Duke! What have you done now?” even if had not done anything wrong he would be mournful, contrite, and go through his embarrassment antics. We would laugh and that often made him even more contrite.

Now one thing that Duke loved to do was chase cats. He would streak after them like a madman on a mission. Duke would lose it all when he was chasing a cat. Imagine our surprise then when one of the farm cats had kittens and abandoned one of them. My mother found it, placed in a towel, and began feeding it from an old baby bottle. Our surprise was how Duke responded. He actually pulled the towel over to his indoor bedding and curled up around the little fur ball. That kitten never left Duke’s side from that day on and as it grew it would be found climbing all over this big dog, pulling on his stubby ears, jumping up and smacking Dukes stub of a tail. He would pick the kitten up in his mouth gently by its head, take it to his blankets, and lick it all over until it slept. My Dad would tease that Duke was just “tenderizing the cat for a snack later”. But this was not the case because even after that cat grew up into a great cat, Duke treated her as his own. His whole demeanor changed and pretty much stopped chasing cats, except ones that did not belong on the farm or that my Mom would “sic” him on and that’s another story.

As I thought about Duke I was reminded of what Paul wrote his young friend Timothy when he wrote that “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden. (1 Timothy 5:24-25 NIV)” Duke’s “sins” of chasing cats did kind of trail behinds him just like our sins do when we affect the lives of others with our poor choices. Dysfunctional families are full of examples. Yet there is hope here in that we can be changed just like Duke was.

Paul was in the midst of teaching Timothy about how to handle ungodly men and women in his church. Paul reminded Timothy about his own past: “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:13-14 NIV)” Paul had changed because of his faith in the love of Christ. Paul, who once persecuted the church like Duke chased cats, had been changed because of Jesus’ love for him.

Now I do not believe animals can be saved because they are animals and Jesus did not need to die for them. They have no actual sin, they respond the way they do because of their animal instincts but something changed in old Duke that made him display characteristics that he had not displayed before. Paul changed because of the love of Jesus and we can as well. This morning remember that change is good.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.