It was a cold Iowa morning the day my wife found a stray dog at our door. The small terrier looked at my wife as he shivered in the cold. His fur was matted, he walked with a limp, and had an infected wound that needed attention. He looked at us with those lost and lonely eyes. He had no identification, so we took him into our trailer and cared for him. Even though we had little money we took him to the vet. The vet shaved his matted fur and took care of the wound. My wife and I were moving soon so we couldn’t keep him very long. However, we rejoiced when the vet helped him get adopted into a forever home. We named our little stray “Stranger”.
The Bible identifies us as strangers also. In Eph. 2:12-13 we are told: “That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ”. We were lost and separated from God. We were dead in our sins, and had no hope of survival, no purpose for living. Then a gracious Savior took us in. He found us shivering in the coldness of this world, shaved away the ugliness of our wandering ways, and healed the deadly infection of sin. He also willingly paid the price for our redemption with His own blood on the cross. Then our gracious Lord adopted us in His family of faith (Gal. 4:5).
I often think of that little dog which we took in on that cold winter morning. He may have walked with a limp, but a loving family adopted him and took care of him. Our wonderful Savior is always ready to redeem and restore those who are lost. He is waiting to adopt anyone who comes to Him as a stranger at the door.