Pastor Jeff Henderson highlighted the difference between dogs and cats. “A dog looks at you and thinks, ‘You feed me, protect me, and house me. You must be God.’ A cat looks at you and thinks, ‘You feed me, protect me, and house me. I must be God.’”
One of our problems today is that cats dominate nearly everywhere. Our favorite song is: “Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.” I’ve become the reference point for everything. The world revolves around me and my happiness.
And as long as your world revolves around you, and my world revolves around me, we’re going to have a hard time corralling that elusive bird of happiness. We love to psychoanalyze ourselves, pamper ourselves. Sometimes it even feels good to feel sorry for ourselves. We do whatever makes us feel good.
The problem is keeping it up. For a moment I can achieve that Nivana of joy and happiness, then it fades out and I’m off looking for something else to give me fulfillment. After all, if I’m god and the world revolves around me, everything exists for my benefit and helps me to realize my dreams.
Meow!
“Then he called his disciples and the people around him, and said to them, “If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps, he must give up all right to himself, take up his cross and follow me. The man who tries to save his life will lose it; it is the man who loses his life for my sake and the Gospel’s who will save it. What good can it do a man to gain the whole world at the price of his own soul? What can a man offer to buy back his soul once he has lost it?” (Mark 8:35-37 PHILLIPS)
God made a statement like this through His Son six times in the Gospels. He’s a bit like my mama was: when He wants me to get something He repeats Himself several times. Are we getting it?
Sometimes a doggy attitude may not seem so pleasing to us. Grady Scott noted that one of the words for “worship” in Greek, “Proskuneo” means, – ” to kiss (like a dog licking his master’s hand), to fawn or crouch to, homage (do reverence to, adore): worship. It occurs 59 times in the New Testament. It originally carried with it the idea of subjects falling down to kiss the ground before a king or kiss their feet.”
Not very noble if you’re a cat. A dog just loves his master and he’s so glad of what the master provides him. If you have a hard time worshipping, you might ask yourself if you’ve been thinking like a cat recently or like a dog.
“Why doesn’t God help me? Why does He bless her and not me? I wanted that place. Look at all I’ve done and no one even sees it. But him! He’s done nothing and he gets it handed to him on a platter. I don’t see why I’ve got all these problems. I don’t deserve this, etc. In all humility, I’m really something.”
Meow!
Or maybe we can just yip, “Wow! Life, what a gift! It’s not always what I want but thanks God for all these blessings You’ve loaded me down with. While I’m here, my friend is sick. Please heal him. And Lord, you know those people I’m trying to help? Please give me wisdom and give me the resources to help them. And Lord, thanks for the way you’re blessing Jim. He’ll do a great job in that position, etc. And Lord? You’re really something.”
Woof, woof!
(Waiting to hear from all you cat lovers now 🙂 )
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Hmmm …
“Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory position.” Alex Ngui
Smile
A thief broke into my house last night and was looking for my money. I got up and looked with him.
photos: Barbara L. Slavin https://www.flickr.com/photos/bslavin
e_monk https://www.flickr.com/photos/e_monk
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