Theo Got Fleas

• Assurance
• Dr Eliezer Gonzalez
• Faith
• Gospel
• Grace
• Jesus
• Love
• New Testament
• Salvation

Jan 10, 2014 2042

Let me explain. Theo got fleas and nothing but nothing could get rid of them. Natural methods didn’t work; how he hated the essential oils! Flea collars and normal chemical treatments didn’t work!

So my wife Ana, took a drastic step. She did it in love, but it was a terrible thing to have to do. She took the clippers and the scissors to him. Theo’s gloriously soft fluffiness came off! In our home we don’t have the skills to do this well. But my wife took up the challenge, because it had to be done. Theo refused to have this head done. And the picture below shows you the result. He looks like a large rat with a ragged mop where his head should be.

But you know what? Theo is still the happiest dog on the planet. He runs around, plays with his toys, he plays with us, filled with the joy of living. I have come to believe he actually smiles and winks at us cheekily.

So here’s the question… How can a doggie who is so obviously “un-beautiful” in appearance, and after the cruel thing that has happened to him, be so happy?

Here is the secret… Theo rests on the reality of his status, and not on the reality of his state. His status is that he is a much-loved member of the Gonzalez family, and he knows it. His state is shocking – just look at the picture! But for Theo, it’s his status that determines who he is.

So it should be for us. Our natural state is terrible; sinners to the core, with our deformed characters in so many ways falling short of God’s goodness, deserving only suffering and death on account of our sin.

But our status is wonderful! We are children of the King of the Universe, made so by the blood of Christ that was shed in love for us. Nothing can separate us from that love. Nothing can take that away.

So, even more than Theo, we can have reasons to have peace, assurance, and joy, because we are now treasured members of the family of God. He has given us that assurance through Christ, of whom we are told that those who welcomed him,

those who believed in his name, he authorized to become God’s children. – John 1:12 (CEB).

Wow! So now, fleas or no fleas, let me go and give that little doggie a cuddle.

Eliezer