Parable of the Black Lab

Some years ago, I dropped off my son Jon at a public park that had a catfish-filled pond for him to exercise his love of fishing. I returned a few hours later to pick him up and waited in my car for him to collect his gear.  I noticed in a grassy area not far away, a man apparently training his black Labrador retriever.  The Lab would sit at the man’s feet, looking up at his face, waiting and listening for the man’s command to fetch.  The man slung a frisbee a good 80-100 feet or so, and then gave the word.  Instantly the dog charged off at full speed to grab the frisbee and return it to his trainer/master. This routine continued for quite a while.

A short time later another car came and parked next to me.  Out jumped a quite small white ‘yapper’ dog who raced toward the 6-times-his-size Lab, wildly barking and snarling.  He never actually attacked the Lab but got foolishly close and the Lab occasionally lunged back at the little ‘yapper’ as if to say ‘back off’, but the Lab remained at his post at his master’s feet, sitting, watching, and listening to his master’s voice. When the frisbee was thrown, the Lab would race off, followed not-very closely by the short-legged yapper, who continued barking angrily.  The Lab totally ignored that little noisy dog, totally focused on retrieving for and pleasing his master. Finally, the yapper dog’s owner came up, picked up the little dog, attached a leash, and off they went for a walk, all the while the yapper dog kept looking back and barking at the Lab.

Proverbs 6:6-8 says to ‘Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe its ways and be wise which, having no chief, officer, or ruler, prepares its food in the summer and gathers its provisions in the harvest’.  I.E, notice the ant is seemingly self-motivated, and industrious and takes advantage of opportunities. Life is filled with observable object lessons and for me, the picture of that black Lab was another very powerful one: “go to the black Lab, observe his ways and be wise’.  The devotion to his master evidenced by the Lab [1] sitting at his master’s feet [Luke 10:39], [2] looking intently at his master’s face [Psalm 27:8], and [3] waiting and listening eagerly for his master’s command [I Samuel 3:9] was a clear and powerful parabolic lesson for me that I have never forgotten, though it happened years ago.

According to Wikipedia, in 1901, ‘His Master’s Voice’ was the name of a major record label created by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890’s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russel Terrier dog listening to a disc gramophone and tilting his head.  The painting became the trade mark and logo of the Victor Talking Machine Company later known as RCA Victor.

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them and they follow me. [John 10: 14,27].

I wonder, am I consistently sitting at my Master’s feet, looking intently at His face, eagerly listening for, and awaiting His command, eager to follow Him, all the while ignoring the noisy ‘yapper’-dog distractions of this life?

Are you?

CJS