A Meaningful Lesson That I Learned From A Dog

I’m not sure how much you know about Border Collies, but they are extremely smart dogs. They are capable of learning a remarkable number of words and commands, and they are happiest when they are put to work every day and have a very clear purpose. 

My aunt and uncle have had a number of these amazing dogs over the years, and sadly, they just lost their beloved Shifu (Shifu means skillful person or master in Mandarin). Shifu knew his gifting and purpose; he was a hearer and a teller.  He would instinctively know how to listen and how to bring you a message.   

One of Shifu’s favorite activities was watching sports on television with my uncle.  When Shifu heard the voice of the commentator, he would run into the living room and join my uncle on the couch. If there was a guest commentator filling in, he would not come over to the couch because Shifu was expecting the voice of the commentator he KNEW so well.  

As my uncle and Shifu watched their favorite sports, if Shifu heard the word, “score”, from the commentator during a hockey game, he would get so excited and he would run and search for my aunt, wherever she was in the house, to tell her that the team scored. In baseball, if the announcer said, “see you later”, he would once again run to my aunt to tell her the team had scored.  

This just floored me on how smart Shifu was in his ability to listen and hear, coupled with his purpose and joy-filled passion in bringing my aunt the message about what he just heard. It’s like Shifu had to tell her the good news.  

Have you ever had a great story that you heard that you just couldn’t wait to share with someone, where you simply couldn’t wait to bring the good news?

Maybe a loved one just got engaged, you got the job or new house of your dreams, or a family member’s cancer is in remission. If you’re like me, you’ll feverishly call or text whoever you can as quickly as possible because you can no longer keep it to yourself. You HAVE to share the good news.  

What about when we hear the greatest story of all, which is the birth, life, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Once we’ve heard, do we, like Shifu, go and tell this message with the same sense of urgency and exuberant joy? When we hear a message through a pastor, a friend, in church or in God’s Word, do we immediately seek to go and tell?  

I don’t know about you, but I want to be a little bit more like Shifu. “God, give me the ears to hear and the courage to go and tell. “ 

Mark 16:15 – “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'”

Devin Almonte 

Host of Encouraging Star Stories, STAR 99.1