Going back to our adoption of Murphy, as I previously indicated, he had contracted distemper before receiving the usual vaccinations prior to being adopted. He was one sick puppy! He was so weak that we had to carry him to go out and go potty and then hold him under our coat. They had pretty much cut all his hair off because he was so matted. He weighed eight pounds when we brought him home and dropped to six pounds. Lynne had to force-feed him with a syringe using a homemade concoction she whipped up. When he finally recovered, he was like a “velcro” dog — permanently attached to whichever one of us was sitting down. When I would be at work, Murphy would go to the dining room window and watch for my return.

In a comparable manner, we as Christians are to be waiting for the return of our Master, Jesus Christ. If you were to ask most believers today, both men and women, if they were looking for the Lord’s return, and they were truly honest, many would likely say, “Not so much.” Jesus told His disciples that they were to watch for His return:

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore, stay awake — for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning — lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” —Mark 13:32-37 (ESV)

The King James translation uses the word “watch” whereas the ESV says “stay awake.” There are times in our lives where we feel compelled to “stay awake” — a bedside vigil over a sick child, a parent, or a friend. Sitting in a foxhole or ambush position in Vietnam was an occasion to stay awake! So, the tough question I must ask myself is: Am I watching, staying awake, looking for the Master’s return? And if not, why? It’s a simple answer when you get right down to it. Murphy watched because he had been the recipient of his master’s touch — the love of the master had transformed him. He had been rescued, restored, and loved, and he responded to that love by having an expectation of his master’s return at the end of the day.

I don’t know the hour or the day that my Master will return for me or possibly when I return to Him. Paul said that “while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” and that “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:6, 8, ESV). What I do know is that the only thing I hold on to while I am here is that I might finish the work I’ve been given, to run the race with endurance, so that when I see my Master face to face, I will hear Him say: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21, ESV). Or, to put it in Murphy speak: “Good boy”! What say ye, Man of Valor?