Dog and Cat Christianity

     About six years ago, by no purpose of my own, I happened to have acquired a dog from my rebellious fourth child when it was a condition upon her moving home. It was going to be her dog, however, it ended up being mine. I had no idea then what a gift from GOD this dog would end up being for me. She was one of the reasons I was forced out of my bed of despair on some of my worst days. GOD knew I needed her. I have always had cats, but never really had a dog for any length of time, because I had a husband who hated dogs. The husband left a few years ago, and GOD brought me a dog, not just for company, but to help me heal and give me some teachable moments. So, now having had both, cats and dogs, I've noticed a parallel between cats and dogs and Christians.

     Some dogs are easily excitable and not terribly obedient. They pull on their leashes, trying to pull their masters in the direction they want to go. They will jump all over anyone new, or bark incessantly with the intent to scare the snot out of people who are unfamiliar to them. Too many dog owners do not know how to train their dogs or have breeds that are not easily trainable. YHVH GOD, the personal GOD, saw fit that I should have a purebred German Shepherd, which is the most trainable and some would say, the most intelligent of all the species. This type of dog will cling to one person in the household and become that person's shadow, following wherever their master goes, wanting always to please their master. All day long, she lays at my feet, patiently waiting for me to give her my attention. Regardless of the time of day or night, when I whisper her name, the ears go up, she rises and waits to hear what is coming next with her tail wagging.  She is so well-behaved that I don't even need to put a leash on her when I take her out or go for walks anywhere.  When she does run ahead, she never goes more than about fifty feet before she turns back to make sure that I'm there still, then she happily runs, free and beautiful in her stride. She never ventures too far, and now that she is aging, when she tires, which is pretty early in our walks, she ends up walking behind me in my shadow, even to exhaustion, she won't let me go anywhere without her.  

     Beloved, are you starting to see the parallel? We pull on the leash that GOD has put on us, trying to rush ahead of His plan or drag Him along with the path we want to take. He pulls back on the choker-collar, but we pull all the more, because we want what we want, and we haven't learned the self-control of just walking by His side. The harder we pull, the more strangulated we become, and still, we insist on having our own way.  Sometimes, we jump all over new believers or visitors in our churches or people who show even the slightest interest in learning about Jesus. Many times, we end up clawing them unintentionally, and they back off, deciding it's not for them. Sometimes, we will bark at non-believers, with the intent to scare the "hell" out of them by being all hellfire and brimstone, letting them know all that they are doing wrong. Many times we even attack each other and create dog fight after dog fight among the brethren, because we are "different" species.   Eventually, though, as we age, we become more properly trained and used to our Master.  We learn to walk right by GOD's side, waiting for the go ahead to run up ahead of Him, happily making ground in a beautiful stride. When we know that we've gone far enough, we will stop, turn back and make sure that GOD is still with us, and we will seek His permission to proceed or just walk by His side again for more instruction. We are loyal to our Master, and when GOD is not moving, or so it seems, we lay quietly at His feet just waiting for Him to say, "Hey, do you want to go somewhere with Me?"  

 

     Cats, well, they are a different story. They know where the food is, they know who their owner is and they will stay with their owner, but they are going to do their own thing no matter what. They have this attitude that we are there to serve them. My cats are extremely stubborn and when they get mad, they will do their business in the house and not their litter box to let me know they are unhappy, stinking up my whole house and further ruining my twenty year old carpets. Three times my Jubilee had run away from me, staying out for weeks at a time with me having no idea where he was. The last time, he got mad about going to the vet and he freaked and jumped out of my arms, escaping and getting lost in a neighborhood miles from home. By the miraculous hand of GOD, almost six months later, we found him in a neighborhood very far away with the help of a friend who was delivering Chinese food.  I thought he was gone for good, but all that time, GOD knew he would be back, and He had a lesson for me to learn. This time, he was thrilled to be back, having had to weather the climate from December to June all alone outside. While he was gone, he was trapped, neutered and released back in the neighborhood he was caught. (It's a local program here to cut down on stray feral cats, without destroying the ones roaming the streets.)  When he did come home, he was a much more docile cat, much more affectionate.  Sadly, in the summer of 2019 he went off and never came back.  I was devastated because he was my miracle cat, a glorious story for a later date.  Since then, we've acquired two more cats who are my daughters and one is very timid, afraid of others, while the other is very social, even to waiting for hours for the local feral cat to show up for a feeding, which I happily do, because he looks just like my Jubilee.  He may very well be a descendant of his, because before he was fixed, Jubilee was quite the ladies' Tom cat!  Do you know believers who really want nothing more to do with GOD than to just be petted on the head, loved on, and fed?  I know I do.  

   Beloved child of GOD? Which kind of lover of Jesus you? Are we a non-neutered male cat, or a docile one, somewhat compliant, but still doing our own thing? Or, are we an excitable dog wanting to run ahead of GOD, or scare the "hell" out of the person passing by on the sidewalk?  If we have been walking with GOD for long, and we are truly interested in letting GOD be our Lord, Teacher, Guide and Director of the Producer of our own life story we will become a purebred, like my precious German Shepherd, trainable, compliant and a pure joy to our Master.