The Consequence of Actions

If you need to do a spot of shopping, then why not take a trip to our village? If you want to buy a birthday card there’s Sam and Ella's shop. Or, you may wish to buy a handcrafted piece of jewellery from Murphy's; he will personally greet you. If you need flowers, then try Baxter's; he is so committed to customer care, he even sleeps amongst the flower pots. As you’ve probably guessed, our local shop assistants are canine: Sam and Ella are West Highland terriers, Murphy is a very gentle black Labrador, and Baxter is an endearing border terrier. However, there are two more doggy retail characters to tell you about, but they have had a bad week...

During a recent trip to the newspaper shop, I heard a sad tale about the newsagent’s dogs. Their owner had come down in the morning to find an empty packet of ibuprofen tablets; in humans, ibuprofen is a pain killer, but it is poisonous to dogs. There was no way of knowing which dog had consumed the entire packet of tablets, so off to the vets for treatment both dogs had to go. The dogs had to endure some rather unpleasant medication and their owners had an anxious 48 hours. Now you may be thinking how foolish of the owners to leave the tablets where the dogs could reach them, but there’s more to this story. In addition to his family, the newsagent shares his home with two dogs and two cats. In the night, the cats had visited the kitchen and raided the cupboards, not only opening them, but pulling out the ibuprofen tablets. The dogs had opportunistically gobbled up the tablets as treats and, well, the rest is history.
This episode brought to my mind how the actions of one person can seriously affect another. Consider the story of David: as a consequence of his sin with Bathsheba, an innocent man, Uriah the Hittite, died (2 Samuel 11). 

Although we may not realise it, people watch us: our behaviour, our speech, our reactions to the circumstances of life. As Christians we want to honour the Lord in every part of our lives and draw unbelievers to Him. We want people to ask for the reason for the hope that lies within (1 Peter 3:15), so it is important that we walk with integrity and similarly, it’s important not to be a source of stumbling.
The cats in today’s story never intended to harm the dogs, but as a result of their misdemeanours both dogs had to be treated; thankfully, all turned out well in the end. It’s a reminder that in our daily lives we ought to walk carefully, not only for our own sakes, but also for those around us.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15 (NKJ)