GAAL: redeemer
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And that He will stand upon the earth at last.
And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!
I will see Him for myself.
Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed with the thought!
Job 19:25,26 NLT
The Meaning of His Name:
Matthew was 12 when he finally convinced us to get him a dog of his own. He’d been working on us for a long time, but we’d been reluctant to start that whole messy training-of-a-puppy process once again. The chewing, the peeing, the figuring out how to get the beast to obey—we’d been there too many times before. And we knew by now exactly how the “I’ll do all the work myself!” pleas ended up. So we drug out heals, hoping maybe he’d lose interest over time.
Not a chance.
Matt kept after us relentlessly.
Finally, while on vacation in the Sierras we let down our guard and decided to just take a look at the local animal shelter. We warned him all the way up the dusty driveway that we weren’t making any promises and probably wouldn’t be choosing a dog that day.
Instead, a dog chose us.
A big brown patch over one eye and a long tear-like streak down the other, gave Jackson a jovial, pleading look. And he smiled at us, I swear! One look and our hearts were captured by this abandoned mutt in remote Jackson County, California.
But they wouldn’t let us take him home. Rules reined the sweltering office of that little pound. Rules that could not be bent or broken, even for a family attempting to save the life of a dog destined for death. We pushed and pleaded with the man, telling him we had to drive all the way back to our home in Oregon. Couldn’t we have him neutered there?
Not a chance.
But we had to have that dog. He was meant for us and we knew it, and no amount of hard-hearted bureaucracy was going to stop us!
So we concocted a plan.
Since we had to leave for home the next day to get back to work, we’d ask my brother who lived nearby to pick up the dog as soon as the pound would release him. He’d take him to the approved vet to have him neutered and keep Jackson until we could drive back 700 miles to pick him up.
A lot of work, but Dave did it for us.
And so, just a few days after getting home, my husband and son hopped back in the car and drove the 1400 miles round trip back to bring our dog home.
And I think Jackson knows exactly what it cost us to have him in our family. He is the most delightful, grateful, smiling dog we’ve ever had. And the most obedient. Its almost as if he knows we saved him from certain death. This dog waits for us to tell him something, anything to do! Every morning he fetches the newspaper and brings it, tail wagging, to the foot of the bed. Once, we’d forgotten to let him back in the house after a day of working in the yard. Rushing off to a Saturday evening church service, we didn’t realize that Jackson was still outside until we drove into our driveway several hours later. There sat Jackson, waiting for us to come back home.
Jackson’s sole purpose in life is to please his masters, the ones who redeemed him from the pound all those years ago.
Do you see it?
You and I have been rescued.
Redeemed from certain destruction.
He chose you, selected me. And He paid an unbelievably high price to bring us back. Back where we belong.
…do you not know that you are not your own?
For you have been bought with a price:
Therefore glorify God with your body…
I Corinthians 6:19,20
After all, He really is your Redeemer…
From my heart,
Diane
Romans 12:1-2
Revelation 5
Isaiah 41:14
Ephesians 4:29