Dr. John R. Rice related a gripping story about a family whose beloved dog Rex had strayed away from home. Both the children and parents were worried sick. The children were languishing around, not eating, bursting into tears at all hours of the day and night. They prayed for the pet’s safe return in their family devotions. Then one day the youngest boy shouted from the front porch, “Daddy, Mommy, everybody! It’s Rex! He’s come home!” Sure enough, when the family ran to the porch, at the edge of the clearing the familiar old dog was walking toward the house.
But suddenly, the father grimly commanded that not a member of the family move from his place. He stepped back into the house and quickly brought his shotgun, loaded it, and to the family’s horror, aimed and fired, dropping the beloved old dog dead in his tracks. Tears were streaming from his face as he fought to keep from sobbing with the grief-stricken children. “Why, Daddy? Why?” they kept saying as he embraced them and tried to soothe them. The fact is, in his wisdom he saw from the manner and the look of his old dog the unmistakable signs of hydrophobia. The dog was rabid, mad. As much as he loved the dog, he loved his family more!
When the household of faith is at stake, God’s man must be a faithful shepherd. The enemy, no matter how attractive, precious, or sentimental, must go. No matter how sweet, intelligent, appealing, dynamic, kind or heroic — our course of action is clear and unambiguous.