Are you a Dog?

²⁵ A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  MARK 7:25-27

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here we have read is a remarkable story of a woman who came to Jesus to seek help. She was not the only one who came to Jesus for help at that time. But a discussion took place between her and Jesus that explains the operation rules in the Kingdom of God. This discussion sets the standard that qualifies one for help by God. Let us examine this story step-by-step.

 To begin with, this woman was in a desperate position. Her daughter had a demon which obviously tormented her and drove away peace from her family. May be she tried all the suggestions people made to her regarding where she could get help for her daughter without success. Then finally, she hears of a man who is going about looking for cases like that and solving them. She must have told herself, “if I just see this Jesus, my daughter will be free.” So she set out to look for Him. I believe she must have taken some money with her, reasoning that even if it is with money, she must get rest for her daughter.

Second, Jesus was actually doing these things. He was healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and driving out demons. He was not demanding anything from the people who benefitted from these blessings. So naturally, we don’t expect this woman to have any difficulty as soon as she got to Jesus. But the story changed. Instead of helping her as He did many times to others, Jesus began talking about dogs and children. He would not take the children’s food and give it to dogs. The children must be fed first. 

To understand why, we must go back to verse 26 which tells us about the nationality of this woman. She was not an Israeli. She was not a Jew. And because of that, Jesus withheld the blessings from her. Even though the blessings were free, they were meant for Jews – God’s people – only. For her to benefit from Jesus, she had to God’s child.

Even today, we always think God has everything in abundance. It won’t cost him anything to give us good wives, husbands, jobs, houses, children, security, good health and financial success. So we just come expecting to be given these things without first considering whether we are His children. However, Jesus’ answer to that woman is still valid today. “Let us feed the children first.” In other words, let us give good health to God’s children first. Let us give good jobs to God’s children first. Let us give good spouses, good homes and divine protection to God’s children first. It is not good to give these things to dogs.

If you are not God’s child, as far as Heaven is concerned, you are a dog which deserves to get nothing from the Kingdom. You do not deserve promotion or success in exams or fulfillment in your marriage. These things belong only to children. However, as soon as the issue of son-ship is settled in your life, these things come naturally. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God . . . and all these things shall be added unto you” MAT. 6:33.    

Notice that this woman did not give up. It wasn’t her fault. She did not know what standard was required for receiving help from Jesus. Having heard now, she took a step to become a child of God. By demonstrating her faith in Jesus, she automatically became a child, legitimately entitled to receive not just the healing but every other benefit of the kingdom. And Jesus wasted no time in informing her of her status and benefits. “So Jesus said to her, ‘Because of that . . . go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!”(V.29). 

Do you desire to benefit from the Kingdom of God? Are you praying to God for anything? My friend, these things are for children. Are you a child or a dog? You can become God’s child in a few seconds. “But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God” JOHN 1:12. “What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent” JOHN 6:29. Can you pray to God and receive Him now?