03/28/2004: "Brown Dog"

By Carol J. Warren

Once there was a brown dog. He was not a very pretty dog. He was scrawny and scraggly with reddish brown hair and only one ear. One ear had been bitten off in a dogfight. But one thing good thing about the brown dog was he always looked like he was smiling. Every day the brown dog would go down to the playground to watch the children play.

The brown dog loved the children. They would pet him and play with him and the brown dog loved it. Even when the smaller children pulled his tail or grabbed him too hard, the brown dog was patient with them and never snapped at them. The brown dog didn’t belong to anyone. He was just a stray. But everyday he came down to the park to play with the children and let them love on him.

The brown dog also protected the children. He would not let any strangers come near the children or try to touch the children. He had a very good instinct for who was bad and who was dangerous. If a person tried to hurt the children the brown dog would growl and bare his teeth and snap at the person. If the person would not stop trying the hurt the child the brown dog would bite them.

All of the children loved the brown dog and felt very safe with him around. Even some of the parents had come to know that the brown dog protected their children and kept them safe at the playground. The brown dog didn’t really have a name so they just called him Brown for his color.

One day one of the children wandered into the street as a car was coming. Brown ran into the road to warn the child and get the child out of the way but Brown was hit by the car instead of the child. He was hurt very bad. But because he didn’t have an owner he didn’t have anyone to help him. The children gathered around Brown and were very concerned but they did not know what to do.

One little girl named Lindsey ran and got her mom. She told her mom what happened and how Brown got hurt trying to rescue a smaller child. Brown was always protecting the children but who was going to help Brown now that Brown was hurt. Lindsey’s mom understood. She didn’t have a lot of money but she carefully picked Brown up and put him in her car. She drove Brown to the vet to see what could be done to help him.

The vet was nice but his examination hurt. Brown was very patient though and did not growl though he did whimper some when it hurt. He knew the doctor was trying to help him. The vet said that Brown was going to need a lot of care for a while and could not go back to the park until he was better. Lindsey’s mother thought about it and decided that she would take care of Brown until he was better.

She took brown home and made a pallet for him in the laundry room. Then she got a bucket of water and some flea shampoo and being as gentle as she could she gave Brown a sponge bath, then she gave him a flea collar and put drops on him to keep the fleas away. She even sprayed the area where he was laying just in case some of the fleas tried to come back. If Brown was going to stay inside he must be clean. Brown had never had a bath but he was very patient with Lindsey’s mom, though she could tell it hurt him when she moved him sometimes.

She put a bowl of water by Brown and some food but Brown wouldn’t eat. He looked very sad and Lindsey’s mom was concerned that if he didn’t perk up he might not get well. But when Lindsey came out to see him the dog’s tail wagged and he perked up. Brown really did love children. He even ate his food and drank his water for Lindsey. “Well,” thought Lindsey’s mom, “if children make Brown feel better we have children come over and visit him all the time.” So that is what she did and she was right, it really did help Brown get well quicker.

It took a long time for Brown to get well enough to go outside but finally Lindsey’s mom decided Brown was well enough to take outside. She had a fenced in back yard so she put Brown out in the back yard. But much to her surprise Brown kept trying to get out and escape. “I wonder why?” Lindsey’s mom asked Lindsey, “We have been good to him and fed him. We have taken good care of him, why would he want to leave?

“I know,” said Lindsey, “He is worried about the children in the park and he misses them. I bet he wants to go to the park Mom. He really does love the children.”

Lindsey’s mom decided to see if that were true. She put Brown in the car and drove him to the park. Brown hopped out and assumed his position with the children. The children were so excited to see Brown. He was still a little sore and their hugs and love hurt some but to Brown it was well worth it. He was back on guard with the children.

Lindsey’s mom was amazed at this very special dog. So every morning she would drop the dog off at the playground and every evening when the park was shutting down she would drive up and open the car door. Then Brown would come running and hop in. Lindsey’s mom would take him home with her for the evening but every day he stood watch and loved on the children in the park.

One day a mean man came who wanted to hurt the children. He would try to trick the children into coming with him by offering them candy and then he would take them away and hurt them or even kill them. The dog instantly knew this was a mean man and that he must protect the children from him.
The man walked over to where Lindsey was and offered her some candy. Brown jumped between them and began to growl and snap his teeth at the man. The mean man kicked the dog really hard in the side sending Brown flying through the air for a few feet. Brown was hurt bad. His ribs were broken. But Brown did not think about himself or his pain or even the possibility that he could be hurt worse. He got back up to protect Lindsey.

The man tried to grab Lindsey and run off with her but Brown bit the man on the leg and would not let go. Some of the parents came to see what all the children were yelling about and saw what happened. One of the moms had a cell phone and called 911.

The man was very angry. He picked up a big stick and began to hit Brown very hard again and again but Brown would not let go of the man’s leg. He was not going to let this man hurt Lindsey and the other children. The man just kept hitting Brown with the big stick trying to make Brown let go. Soon the police arrived but it was too late, Brown was dead. But the mean man did not get away. Brown was right about him. The police had been looking for him for a long time. He had a record of hurting children. The police arrested him and took him to jail.

The children gathered around Brown and began to cry. Lindsey tugged on her mom’s shirt. “Fix him momma.” She said, “Let’s take him to the vet again.”

“It’s too late honey.” Her mom said, “Brown is dead.” Then they just held each other and cried. They wrapped Brown in a blanket and buried him there at the park. The put a gravestone over him that read, “This is Brown. He loved and protected all the children at the park.”

You know the Bible tells us about someone else that loved that much. It calls him the good shepherd of the sheep. It says that he loved the sheep enough that he gave his life for the sheep. If a hired worker comes to watch the sheep and a wolf or bear comes, the hired worker will run away and let the wolf or bear eat the sheep because the sheep are not his and he does not love them. But the shepherd loves the sheep. He loves the sheep enough to give his life for the sheep. His sheep hear his voice and they follow only him. They will not follow a stranger.

If a wolf comes to hurt the sheep, he does not run. He protects the sheep. He does not worry about getting hurt himself, does he? Because of his great love for the sheep he will not even think about himself.

Even if a lion comes to eat the sheep the shepherd will not run away. What if one of those big, mean bears come to eat the sheep, will the shepherd run away? No he will stay and protect the sheep because he loves the sheep more than he loves his own life.

Do you know who that shepherd is? That’s right it is Jesus. And who do you think his sheep are? Right again, we are his sheep. Not only is he willing to lay down his life for us because he loves us so much but he did lay down his life. He died on the cross for us. But he didn’t stay dead, God raised him from the dead and now he watches over his sheep forever.

To be one of his sheep all you have to do is repent of your sins and ask him to come into your heart and be Lord and Savior of your life. If you really mean it, that’s all it takes. Then you will be one of his sheep. But the Shepherd didn’t just protect the sheep did he? He also loved on the sheep every day. Be sure to give the Lord a chance to love on you every day. And just like the children loved on Brown you need to love on the Lord everyday too.

This story really has two morals; one is that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd that gave his life for his sheep. He loves us more than Brown loved the children. He protects us and loves on us. He stays with us and as the Bible says, “He will never leave us or forsake us.”

But the other moral is that we need to follow his example and be good shepherds of his sheep. We need to lay down our lives for the sheep. That sounds hard but we can do it in many ways. If we see someone that dresses different or acts odd and everyone makes fun of them, we need to be sure that we don’t make fun of them. We need protect them from hurt feelings and be nice to them.

What about the dying part, well it is not always about getting killed, it can just mean giving up what you want for someone else. For example, there is only one scoop of ice cream and you really want it but so does someone else. Instead of throwing a fit for it and getting angry you just let them have it. That is dying for his sheep. Maybe you want to sit in the front seat or be first in line but so does someone else. Dying for his sheep would mean you let someone else have it cheerfully without complaining. Wow, I think everyone can do that.

We need to follow Brown’s example and especially the Lord Jesus’ example and love the sheep, be nice to them, be friendly to them and helpful. We need to protect the sheep. We should never be the ones who say hurtful things or call names. When others do things like that we need to be sure to tell them that it is not nice and to please stop. I know that is hard but it is protecting the Lord’s sheep and everyone can do it. We should never talk bad about anyone to their face or behind their back. If it does not really need to be said and it is bad, then we need to be the kind of person that does not say it.

Yes you can be like Brown too, loving and protective of people. You can be a good shepherd of the sheep.