We are called to meet together with other saints to form a bond in Christ. That sets us on higher ground. I don’t mean it makes us better than anyone else, I mean it gives us a lift.

There are times, however, when the saints aren’t meeting and we’re in the dumps and we need a lift. I know someone who doesn’t feel worthy of meeting with the saints right now. I know he’s wrong, and I hope someday he’ll realize all are welcome in church when they’re seeking what that church has to offer. I won’t go into details about his life, but he needed an outlet, something to lift him out of his doldrums. What would you have done if you were in a prison of despair and couldn’t turn to a church for support–or felt you couldn’t?

I don’t know what I’d do. He rescued two boxer puppies. They’re tiny and wiggly, and when he first got them they were covered in fleas and ringworm and in bad shape–though they were very affectionate. This person lives near us, so I often glance out the window to see him walking around the yard with the puppies following behind him, tumbling over one another, licking his ankles, licking his face when he picks them up. He built a pen for them under a tree outside, and he spends more time there with them than he seems to spend inside. Those little puppies have thrived under his care, and now they have no fleas, they’re healthy and happy and every time I call out to them they come running over to lick my toes and love on me. These are God’s creatures in action. Who would think that, just perhaps, these tiny bundles of happiness might be used by God to bring a hurting soul closer to Him? I recall when this person first arrived in town. There was such sadness in his face. He seemed lost. Now he speaks and gives a friendly wave when we drive past or walk over to talk.

I have a feeling this neighbor is going to have parts of his heart healing soon. Maybe then he’ll feel more inclined to seek out other ways to lift his heart out of the doldrums. But those puppies, I believe, might have been the beginning of his salvation. How like God to put gifts like that in our paths.

What’s He done for you lately?