Dog Duty

Bible Reading: 1 John 3:16-18

When Max and his mom walked into their house, their dog, Harry, ran straight to Mom and started rubbing against her ankles. She pet him and Harry flipped onto his back for a tummy rub.

“Harry, come here,” said Max. “Come to me!”

But Harry just looked up at Mom with his puppy dog eyes.

“Why does Harry always go to you? He never greets me first,” Max complained.

“Max, when we decided to get a dog, you promised to take responsibility for him. But the reality is I do most of the work for Harry, and he knows it.”

“He knows I care for him,” said Max. “I cuddle him and tell him I love him every day.”

“Let’s take him on a walk,” said Mom.

Max held the leash as Harry trotted down the sidewalk. Harry sniffed around, squatted, and did a doody. “Okay, Mom, it’s right there,” said Max, pointing.

Mom pulled out a dog doody bag and handed it to Max. “Here you go,” she said.

“Me? I don’t want to clean up after him! Can’t you do it?”

“Max, this is why Harry always comes to me. He knows I’m the one who takes care of him, including doing the dog deeds that are difficult. Like picking up his doody,” said Mom.

“You really think he realizes that?” asked Max.

“I think he does. Love isn’t just words and cuddles, Max. It’s actions. We talked about that at church last week, remember? The Bible tells us to love others through our actions because that’s what Jesus did for us. He loved us by sacrificing His life for us, and He fulfills His promise to provide for our needs and take care of us.” Mom nodded toward the bag in Max’s hand. “You can love Harry by fulfilling your duty to him too.”

“Harry, it is my dog duty to clean up your dog doody,” said Max in a deep voice, saluting the dog before taking the bag and picking up the doody. “I’ll do my dog duty from now on to show you I love you,” Max said, patting Harry’s head. He grinned at his mom. “And to show you I love you too!”

-Kelly Bakshi

How About You?

Do you show others you care about them? Have you ever volunteered to take on extra chores for your family? Have you offered to help a friend learn something they may be struggling with in school? It’s important to tell people you love them, but love is more than just words. It also means doing the hard stuff. Jesus did that for us when He died for our sins. What can you do to show someone you care?

Today’s Key Verse: 1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Love others through actions