Fools Made Wise #77

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Proverbs 12:10:

A righteous man respects the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

The seventy-seventh comic of Fools Made Wise starts with Leroy still sitting on the park bench. The gentleman from comic #58 is sitting next to him, petting his dog and giving him a treat for being a good boy. This shows us the first part of Proverbs 12:10, that “a righteous man respects the life of his animal.”

In typical Leroy fashion, he inserts himself into a scene he’s not invited into. He asks why the gentleman is fawning all over his dog and tells him how doing so is just going to make the dog weak and soft.

Of course the gentleman is taken aback and asks him how he should be treating him instead. And Leroy responds that if it were his dog, he would rough him up a bit, and show him who’s boss. He then models this by angrily getting in the dog’s face, calling him a box of rocks, and goading the dog to respond. This shows us the second part of Proverbs 12:10, that “the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”

As you can imagine, the dog does NOT like this very much, so he jumps up and bites Leroy on the arm! Leroy shrieks in pain, asking the gentleman to get the dog off of him. The gentleman, not too quick to act, tells Leroy that he failed to mention that he was giving the dog a treat for not biting someone today; he supposes more work will be needed on this.

 

In light of the full scope of biblical revelation, this comic shows us that after we trust Jesus, that righteousness extends to even small things like treating our animals well. Isn’t it great to know that Jesus’ righteousness is SO big that it touches every detail of our lives?

Contrast this with those who, like Leroy, are not walking with God. Even their so called “tender mercies” (i.e. him trying to use his “wisdom” to get the dog to react) have a tinge of cruelness to them. May we learn from this to trust Jesus’ righteousness, and then to let it extend to every bit of our lives (including the small stuff!)

For more from Pastor Travis Woronowicz, visit foolsmadewise.com.

Categories: Fools Made Wise