There was a story posted on a popular political blog about a dog who died in a house fire after alerting its owners of the impending disaster. Jeter, named for New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, was a 120-pound Great Pyrenees “rescue dog,” retrieved from the humane society in Shelby County, Ohio three years ago. Jeter had been starved and beaten as a puppy. His owner, Glenda Moss of Piqua, OH, had lost another Great Pyrenees to illness prior to rescuing Jeter.
At about 6:00 a.m. on June 11, Jeter began poking and licking Glenda’s face as she slept. She tried to get Jeter off of her, but she quickly realized that things were not right. Hearing the crackle of fire and smelling smoke, Glenda jumped from her bed and alerted her son David, 19, that the house was on fire. David and Glenda ran out of the house with Jeter close behind. However, for some unknown reason, Jeter ran back into the house. Glenda and David chased him, but the smoke in the burning house was too thick—they could only stay in the house a few minutes. Jeter died.
The blog that featured that story is viewed by approximately 23 million people a day. If only half of those people read the story of Jeter’s heroics, 11.5 million people got a small dose of inspiration. Surely a few million of them forwarded that story to friends and family via email. A few million probably told at least one person about Jeter’s final day. Undoubtedly, the owners of Jeter will never forget the sacrifice Jeter made on their behalf. All of this attention and all of this inspiration has come from a dog, a soulless, instinct-driven, mute dog.
Which story will you share today? The story of a dog or the story of the true Savior? Which one can save your soul? “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16).
