My Cat's Preaching on Sin

Hope that title got your attention like she caught mine this morning. Any cat owner will tell you one of the less cute things you need to put up with is the yucky surprises they leave on the floor, especially when they eat something they aren't supposed to. Last night I saw my cat Princess going after some plastic ribbon in a paper bag. I knew that it was a potential hazard, but opted to deal with it tomorrow and placed it on the counter instead.

Long story short, I went to check on her this morning and that noise she was making, only to find something hanging from her mouth: yes, ribbon. With wipes in my hand, I tried to pull it out of her mouth. It was difficult because she was trying to eat it again as she walked backwards. I managed to grab her, and began pulling, and pulling, and "Ewwww", still more pulling. It was a long piece of ribbon and I wondered how it was even possible for her to have swallowed it in the first place.

In that moment, the thought came to me that this is a perfect illustration of how we swallow a whole bunch of sin, and we want to keep doing it, even when we know it's not good for us, and our Guardian is trying to help us not take it in again. I remembered that God is like that with me, with us. God wants to protect us, and even warns us about how bad things can be for us, but when the opportunity presents itself before us, we are left to make the choice for ourselves. It must be frustrating for God to watch us figuratively swallow that sin before His eyes and run away from Him.

My cat's situation reminded me of how in the Bible we are said to be like sheep in complete dependence and in need of a Shepherd. Thankfully, God knowing we would still go after sin in the process of sanctification here on earth, gave us Jesus as our Shepherd to deal with the consequence of sin: death. He has forgiven our sin through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. The main threat has been defeated, but until we are with Him for all eternity: try to stay away from "eating ribbon" and when it is just too tempting to resist, ask for Him to pull it out.

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"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10:11