Devotion 15

{WELCOME}

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Ephesians4:31 "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

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I had to have my little eleven-year-old poodle, Allie, put to sleep last week. This was a hard thing. I made the appointment with the veterinarian three days before and then I noticed I was being nicer to her. I was giving her more little treats and not scolding her so much. Her barking didn't seem to bother me nearly so much either, for I knew it would soon stop and I would probably miss it!

Why is it we wait until we find out someone is dying before we start showing them how much we care about them? We send flowers to the dead but rarely to the living. What If you discovered tomorrow that your best friend was dying from cancer? What If the police knocked on your door tomorrow and told you your spouse had been in a fatal accident? What If one of your parents died from a heart attack tonight? What If your child or grandchild were shot at school or on the street tomorrow? All of these things happen to someone everyday. Tomorrow it could happen to someone you care about! Would you treat them differently than you do now if you knew ahead of time?

I was trying to explain to my three-year-old grandson that Allie was going to go to puppy heaven. He was full of questions; he really loved that dog. Trying to ease his pain, I told him we might buy a new puppy someday. He asked, "Meme, when Papa dies, will you buy a new Papa? (I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!)

We can not replace our loved ones. Once they are taken from us there is no going back and telling them how much we care about them, no going back and apologizing for hurtful words we have spoken or promises we have broken. And we can spend all the money we have on flowers but they will only ease our conscience for they won't see them after they are gone.

Be a little more careful of how you treat the people you care about. Your loved ones can't read your mind. They don't just automatically know how much you care about them; they need to be told and shown. Pick a different person each day this week and, in some way, show them you love them. So what if it costs you a few dollars for flowers or a card? The price would be higher than money if you were to lose them tomorrow.