God Gave Us Dogs to Teach Us. . . .

By Michael Forsyth

This short book is a personal story that shares important messages for daily living. Inspired by observations of a treasured pet, the story chronicles what God imparts to us through our humble canine companions. As difficult as life can be, the Lord provides a path for humans to live their best lives and a simple dog can serve as a model for doing so. Specifically, the book conveys the message of the free gift of salvation. Dogs, through their ability to have faith in humans, submit, obey, and exhibit loyalty demonstrate how we can accept that free gift. Then, in continuing to live our lives, humans need companionship to live life to its fullest. Again, a pet dog provides an example that can guide us through the trials of life by their ability to give unconditional love to their humans. This mirrors the relationship that God would like with us. Finally, our pets show us how we can live in better harmony with our fellow humans as they model forgiveness and seek out relationships with us. The simple observations of a dog's behavior with its owner reveals many analogies that God reveals in his word. This book brings out these messages to encourage others to develop a relationship with God that could serve as a guide to living our best lives in walking with the Lord.

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Harbor Press
• Release date: Mar 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224374106

Book preview

Dedication

To Trigger and Tucker for teaching me so much

Copyright 2023

Acknowledgements

During the course of writing there are several people who inevitably provided support as I worked on the project.  Before thanking them, I would like to thank God for a couple of things.  First, I thank the Lord for sacrificing His Son on my behalf and for all humanity so that we might have a relationship with Him.  Second, I thank the Lord for giving me the gift of my wonderful family.  Because of them my life has balance in a challenging world and love that I need to continue pressing forward.  I have many wonderful memories of our years together and because of the Lord’s provision I am quite sure we will have many more.

Next, I would like to specifically thank the previously mentioned family members starting with Mom and Dad, Jack and Edith Forsyth.  Both have now passed on to be with the Lord and it was because of their commitment to the Lord that I was able to receive the gift of salvation.  So, to my parents, thank you for the firm foundation you both provided in order to ensure my success in life.

As I went out into the world of college I was blessed to meet my wonderful wife, Maryellen.  Aside from salvation, she is the most precious gift the Lord has bestowed on me – and one that I hardly deserve.  Through thirty five years she has been a great friend and my wife, as well as a loving mother to our adult children, Andrew and Ashley.  During my thirty plus years of military service Maryellen was the anchor that kept our family close and able to thrive through seventeen moves around the world, my four combat tours, an unaccompanied year in Korea, and the countless field training exercises that took me away from home when I was not deployed to some unpleasant location in the world.  Incidentally, she also took care of our dogs who were so much a part of our family.  So, thank you to her for all her love and sacrifice ensuring the strength of our family.  I am extremely blessed that you are my wife.  Thank you as well to our children who have grown into such fine adults making a positive contribution in a challenging world.  May God continue to bless you both and encourage you to focus on Him to continue making a difference for others.

Finally, I would like to thank our pastor at First Baptist Church of Platte City, Missouri, Dr. Rusty Savage.  I sent him the draft of this project upon completion to review and provide feedback on the effort.  He graciously read it and provided the requested feedback along with encouragement to seek publication.  Based on that input I have edited the manuscript and hope that the message contained within this short book might touch someone in need of encouragement, uplifting, or salvation and that they may find what they need through our Lord. 

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Michael J. Forsyth

Platte City, Missouri

Preface

For those people who appreciate the company of a dog there is nothing like the unconditional love and friendship that these animals are capable of displaying.  Many of us wonder how this species has formed such a close bond with humans who are so different from canines.  Scientists attribute this symbiotic relationship to an adaptation by canine ancestors from millennia past whereby dog forebears developed the relationship as a means of survival.[1]  This is undoubtedly true and science provides us a good explanation as to how this happened.  Yet, science never provides an explanation to the greater question of why this happened.  Perhaps the answer is found by looking in a different, more spiritual direction.  While dogs made the adaptation long ago to aid in their own survival, it has also benefitted man greatly as well because there are many things that we can learn from a dog to assist us in our daily living.  Perhaps this is the purpose and one that God pre-ordained as well.  That purpose serves to do a great deal to edify man and enhance his life on earth.

Man established pre-eminence over all other species on earth early in his existence primarily through his superior intellect.  God established this when He created the earth, man, and all living creatures.  Genesis 1:28 says that after God had created man and woman He instructed them to subdue it [the earth].  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every other living creature that moves on the ground.[2]  In other words, the Lord had given man dominion over the earth, which represents an enormous responsibility for God’s creation.  As a result of this, man domesticated animals leveraging them as a source of labor and used them as a source of food.  The process of domestication of animals began, it is believed, between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago according to scientists.[3]  Dogs were the first to become domesticated by man and these animals are believed to be descended from wolves.

The reason for this occurrence was probably due to the recognition by both man and wolf (dog) that there was mutual benefit in cooperation.  The canines could readily locate prey to aid humans in hunting while man could kill the prey more efficiently.  A bison or deer could supply enough meat for both species, thus making the survival of both more likely.[4]  Therefore, from a purely utilitarian standpoint it was better for man and wolf to work together, but there is more to this story.  Both species are highly social beings requiring relationships for their own well-being.  Thus, the cooperation between man and dog soon blossomed into a full-fledged social relationship characterized by mutual affection.[5]  Recorded evidence of this phenomenon is found as early as 8,000 years ago in cave paintings and later in writing.  Early historians record the attachment of man to dogs.  For example, the Greeks had names for their dogs demonstrating their attachment to them, while Alexander the Great was known to have highly valued his dogs.[6]  Very early in man’s existence he formed a close bond with dogs.

While the purpose of this appears logical and has great utility for both species, we must ask ourselves, is there a deeper purpose in the close relationship between man and dog?  Dogs have many admirable traits that man has highly valued for several millennia.  Such traits include loyalty, forgiveness, unconditional love, protectiveness, submission, obedience, faith, companionship, and a non-judgmental attitude.  These are attributes that human beings aspire to demonstrate and yet often fail to emulate.  If this is so, then perhaps the purpose of man’s relationship with dogs is for God to use these animals as an instrument to teach we as humans how to live a better life.  This is the reason for writing this book.  The intent is to examine dog behavior and relate it to God’s plan for our lives since many dogs exhibit traits that we humans would do well to live by.

The inspiration for this work occurred some five years ago on a Sunday morning in church.  I served in the US Army for more than thirty years and over the course of my service attended many different churches as my family and I moved around the United States.  In my final assignment we, as always, found a local church to attend and made it our church home.  After attending the church for a few months, I would notice a severely handicapped lady in the congregation who faithfully attended and served the Lord.  Because of her handicap she was forced to use a mechanical scooter for mobility and would sit between the rows of pews about four to five rows from the rear of the sanctuary.  As she arrived at each service her faithful service dog always accompanied this woman.  The dog, a male Labrador Retriever, cared for many of her needs.  This beautiful dog loyally attended her everywhere she went regardless of the weather, time, or needs of his master.  He carried out his duty, but more importantly, he gave this woman the critical thing she needed over all other needs, that is, love.  It was through watching this faithful dog and what he did for this Christian lady, that I realized that