Man's Best Friend

Good friends are loyal and stick by you no matter what, and that's especially true when it comes to man's best friend.

When 68-year-old Lao Pan died in China in November 2011, the only surviving member of his family was a small yellow dog. Stories emerged of the heartbroken pup taking up residence at Pan’s graveside and refusing to leave even after going seven days without food. However, villagers took notice of the loyal canine and began bringing food and water to the gravesite. (Fearing for his welfare a dog-lover soon adopted the dog, and he is doing well)

 

What does loyalty mean, and what does it mean to show loyalty? Loyalty means being faithful, or true to an allegiance.

We hear a bit about loyalty, and about disloyalty, in the world of sport. I’m a football fan, and I get really upset when one of our players decides to leave to go and play at another club. Swapping clubs is a bit more commonplace in our professional sports these days. But going back a few years, when players swapped clubs, whether it was for better opportunity, or more money, they were labelled as being disloyal.

Fans would never dream of just up and swapping clubs. They have an allegiance to their favourite team, one that is unwavering, even in the midst of loss and defeat. When a player ‘defects’ to another team, they often get booed by the very same people who used to idolise them.

Loyalty. Faithfulness. Being true to an allegiance.

We take that view with our sporting teams, we expect it from our favourite players, but sadly for some this high value we place on loyalty doesn’t extend to other aspects of life, such as relationships.

In the Bible, in the book of Proverbs, it talks a fair bit about loyalty and faithfulness, and this verse in particular is one to remember:

Prov 3:3 (Good News) ‘Never let go of loyalty and faithfulness. Tie them around your neck; write them on your heart’. Verse 4 goes on to say ‘If you do this, both God and man will be pleased with you’ 

Loyalty is an admirable trait. One of the greatest character traits of dogs, one that we admire, is their loyalty and faithfulness.

And it is a characteristic that God wants us to display too, across a whole range of relationships. To stick with people, through the good times and the bad, to be faithful and true, dependable, unwavering in our support.

It’s also one of God’s greatest characteristics - His loyalty and faithfulness to us. God promises to never let us go, to never stop loving us, to never cease from seeking relationship with us. He is Man’s Best Friend.

May we each work at being loyal to friends and family, mirroring God’s loyalty and faithfulness to us.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington