BULLDOG TOM
BULLDOG
TOM
There
was once a drunken wretched fellow who sold
things on the street. One of his many vices was dog fighting, and he
was
generally seen with one of his greyhounds at his heels.
One
day, this man, who was known by the name of Bulldog
Tom, heard the gospel preached in the street. He had by this time
tasted
the bitterness of sin and was very miserable.
He
had heard of the wonderful good news that the Son of
God has loved him enough to die for his sins, and that if he was
willing to believe
on him and receive him, he would save him from God’s wrath in hell for
the
penalty of his sins.
This
was good news to Bulldog Tom; he believed it and
cast himself at the feet of the Lord, asked the Lord to save him and
received
forgiveness for his sins. He became a new man and put away his drunken
old ways
and among other things, his dog fighting went. He began to live as a
Christian
should with Christ as his Saviour.
So
wonderfully did he do this, that some of the other
Christians said “Look here Tom, we have been Christians longer than you
have,
but you seemed to have outstripped us. You have got rid of all your old
ways.
How have you done this?”
This
is what Tom said:
“When
I was training my dogs to fight, I did not allow
them to have bones. Bones are not good for dogs in training. Sometimes
when I
was out with one of my dogs he would see a bone on the road, and would
go for
it, and I would say ‘No!’.
And
the dog would look up at me.
Presently
he would look down again at the bone, again
I would say ‘No!’ and so long as I could keep that dog looking up
at me, we
got past all the bones in safety.”
“It’s
like that between me and the Lord” said Tom.
“There are the old temptations, and my old companions inviting me to
come along
and have a good time with them as before. But in my heart and
conscience the
Holy Ghost says ‘No Tom!’ and I lift my eyes to the Lord, and while my
eyes are
ever toward The Lord, I can get past all the old temptations in safety.
This
I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the
lust of the
flesh. (Galatians 5:16)”
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