In the 41 years Rich and I have been married, we’ve had the privilege of sharing the lives of eight cats. Just like people, they all looked different and each had distinct and differing personalities. We enjoyed every one of them for their unique attributes and related to them in different ways.
Muggles and Stinker, our first pair, were like Laurel and Hardy. Their comical antics and accidents brought laughter to our work days but exasperation as we cleaned up their messes. Dusty was the aloof and grumpy boarder we inherited from R’s parents. Our boys were small and lively so she watched them suspiciously as she perched atop the tallest furniture she could leap onto. DeeDee was the first cat our boys’ picked as their own. An independent farm cat, DeeDee brought us “offerings” of every description; some of them still alive!
Snuggles never lived up to her name. She didn’t like being handled and was the dumbest animal we had experienced. She obviously needed people to take care of her! Chester moved into our hearts and into Snuggles’ nightmares to become the King of Cats. He lived the longest of our pets and Rich and I hated to let him go, even when he became very ill. Festus was the perfect solution to our wildlife problems. A ferocious hunter, he was rough with humans and defended his territory with the courage of a tiger! But he was so independent that we lost him way too soon. Farah has the sweetest temperament of all -- devoted to her human “pride” and extremely dependent upon us, she follows us everywhere and cries when we leave the house.
I found myself thinking about my relationship with God while cleaning up one of Farah’s frequent messes. I hope I’m not being irreverent when I imagine that He sees us as His “pets”. We rarely admit it but, like housecats, we are completely dependent upon Him. When we spend all our time in worldly pursuits does He wish we’d stop playing in the ‘litter box’ and just stick to our “business” out there?
2 Cor. 6:17 – 7:1 " ‘Therefore come out from them and be separate’, says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters’, says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
Is He exasperated with us when we consume strange debris from the world and end up spiritually sick? In His Word He provides the perfect food for us to grow as we ought –
“…like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” 1Peter 2:2
When we run from Him and hide during the storms of our life, does He long to embrace and comfort us – to keep us close, knowing we’ll be safe with Him?
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms”, Deut. 33:27.
Just like our pets, we need to learn to keep ourselves clean as we mature in Christ. Maybe we can become God’s favorites, too? I want my Heavenly Father to be as proud of me as He was of the saints of old,
“God is not ashamed to be called their God…” Hebrews 11:16.
Love as always, Elaine (Time to bathe the cat, again!)
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