My Faithful Friend
Illustration

The American poet Archibald Rutledge told how he met a man whose dog had just been killed in a forest fire. Heartbroken, the man explained to Rutledge how it happened. Because he worked out-of-doors, he often took his dog with him. That morning, he left the animal in a clearing and gave him a command to stay and watch his lunch bucket while he went into the forest. His faithful friend understood, and that's exactly what he did. He stayed. A fire started in the woods, and they were seperated. Soon the blaze spread to the spot where the dog was . . . "staying." He didn't move. He stayed right where he was, in perfect obedience to his master's word. With tearful eyes, the dog's owner said, "I always had to be careful what I told him to do, because I knew he would do it."

in Our Daily Bread, Illustrations from ChristianGlobe