The Owner Has Something in His Hand

A story is told of a dog that was joyfully swimming in the sea, and unwittingly heading for a riptide that would suck him beneath the waters. He was having such a good time, he refused to obey his master’s call. So his owner threw a stick towards him, to which the dog turned, took it in his mouth and brought it to his master’s feet.

The Bible says that there is no one who seeks after God (Romans 3:11). We are rebels, and each of us has turned to his own way, to do his own thing. Unwittingly, we are heading for death and Hell.

However, our Owner has something in His hand that can cause us to turn to Him. It is the stick of His moral Law (the Ten Commandments). When we see (through the Law) that He is perfect, holy, just and good--that He sees lust as adultery and hatred as murder, and that He will bring every work to judgment, good sense turns us around.

It is the Law that is a "schoolmaster" (Galatians 3:24) that brings us to the foot of the cross, where we can find mercy and forgiveness of sins.