Nine Lives
 I’ve heard it said that the difference between dogs and cats is that dogs have owners, cats have staff. We recently sort of misplaced our cat. We (the staff) looked everywhere for him. We like to call it a “cat scan.” We finally located him—guess where. On top of the refrigerator!
I have to confess, I might not have been searching for the cat as diligently as my children were. It’s not that I don’t love good, ol’ Sammy. But I can’t deny he makes a lot of work for me. Even if you ignore the box, the vet, and the unspeakable hairball events, there’s still the matter of the fur. Every time he hauls his chunky body off the floor (where he’s usually parked for hours at a time), he leaves behind a hair clump the size of a gerbil. The other day, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw an entire gerbil herd grazing on my living room carpet. I’m praying they don’t stampede.
Kids + Cat = Trouble
Add kids to the cat picture and you’re talking about even more work. When you have kids and cats in the same house, you have to watch both carefully. Children seem to love to cover cats with shortening, toothpaste and/or Vapo-rub. Kids also usually feel the need to give the cat a bubble bath and they somehow think every cat would enjoy a good fluff from a ride in the dryer.
After you convince the kids that cats really don’t appreciate bubbles or drying (even on the gentle cycle), they often take that to mean they should clean the cat with the Dustbuster. I’m not sure that the cat’s method of cleaning himself wasn’t more of a defense mechanism than an instinct.
Bad Cat-itude
It’s not only that Sammy makes extra work for me, either. No, there’s an attitude at work that really gets on my nerves. He gives me “the look.” I’ve seen it on several teenagers (never any of mine, of course). It’s a sort of condescending look of superiority. Whatever I ask him to do—and what a waste of time that is—he looks at me as if to indicate that whatever I’m asking is entirely beneath him. Someone reminded me that thousands of years ago people worshipped cats. I don’t think Sammy has ever quite gotten past that.
Overwhelming Love
What is it that makes the kids love the cat? Pretty much nothing. They require nothing, yet love Sammy overwhelmingly.
God loves us overwhelmingly and unconditionally, too. It’s that unconditional love of his that makes him want you for his own. Isn’t it awesome to be loved and wanted? He loves and wants you so much that even though you were separated from him by sin, he made a plan to win you back.
Every one of us needs to be “won back”—all of us have sinned. Romans 3:10-11 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God” (NIV). We’ve, in essence, given God “the look.” But even though we were arrogant and unlovable, Jesus came as part of God’s unconditional love plan. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NIV). We were lost—to the top of the fridge times eternity—when God came looking for us through his Son. Jesus lived a sinless life and died a sacrificial death on the cross to pay our sin penalty. Romans 3:23-25 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood” (NIV).
Got Righteousness?
When he died on the cross, he was taking the punishment for every sin you’ve ever committed—past, present and future. Once you’ve accepted Christ, you’re declared righteous in the eyes of God. Romans 3:22 says, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (NIV). Three days after Jesus died, he rose from the dead, conquering sin and death once and for all. He’s alive! And when we ask him to forgive our sin and to come into our lives and take control, he does just that. We can believe the promise of Romans 10:13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (NIV).
When we give him our lives, he makes us new. Isn’t it wonderful that God loves us without strings (or even yarn balls)? His unconditional, selfless, sacrificing, extravagant love has made new life possible for all who will receive him—eternal life. That’s nine lives times forever!
A Special Note to My Friends Who’ve Not Yet Given Their Lives to Christ:
If you’ve never responded to God’s unconditional love, you can do it this very moment. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, if you’ve never given your life to Christ, this could be the moment that changes your eternal destiny. If you haven’t yet surrendered your life to him, I’m convinced it’s no accident that God has brought you to this place—or to this page.
Would you like to get in on the forever life? Let Jesus know about it. You can pray something like this:
“Father, I know I’ve sinned. Would you please forgive me? I believe you sent your Son to die on the cross to pay for everything I’ve ever done wrong. I trust you right now to give me a clean slate—to forgive every sin. Thank you for forgiving me and for loving me so overwhelmingly—even as much as you love your Son, Jesus. Thank you for treasuring me as someone worthwhile—even as someone precious. I give you my life and my all. I pray you’ll help me to become more and more like Jesus and that you’ll use me in whatever way you want to bring glory to yourself for all the rest of my life. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."
If you just prayed this kind of prayer for the first time, your life has been radically and eternally changed. Sin? Outa here! New life? Yours! Let someone know what’s going on in your life. Let a solid believer help you as you get started in your new walk with Christ. And let me be the first to welcome you as a real Ya-Ya sister of the heart!
Excerpted from Turkey Soup for the Soul--Tastes Just Like Chicken, by Rhonda Rhea, Cook Communications Ministries, Colorado Springs, CO, 2004.
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