"I Thought He Was Your Dog!" - by Rev. Weldon Bares

A retired bishop told a good story about himself. He made a pastoral call one day as a young pastor in his first church. He rang the doorbell and was joined on the front porch by a large, friendly dog. When the door was opened, the pastor walked in accompanied by the dog.

Nothing was said about the dog as he and the person he was visiting sat down in the living room and chatted. In a few minutes, they both heard the sound of broken glass.

Soon, the dog appeared in the living room and jumped on the couch with muddy feet. The woman then said to her new pastor, "Do you usually bring your dog along on your calls?" The young pastor exclaimed, "I thought he was your dog!"

Have you noticed how we sometimes get so confused about things? The result is that we occasionally get our priorities mixed up. We sometimes put great emphasis on things that really are not very important. And we give very little attention to those things that are of paramount importance.

How can we get our priorities straight? How can we deal with confusion in our lives? I believe the only way is to grow in our faith in God. That is why it is so important for us to spend time in prayer, to go to church on a regular basis, to read the Bible, and to ask God daily to be a part of our lives.

Without God, we don't have a clue. With God, our lives begin to make a little more sense.

P.S. I usually don’t bring my dog, Lucy, on pastoral visits!