Luke 15:20,21 When he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son."
Nani Ui (Hawaiian for beautiful) was a shelter cat, just 8 months old and very sick when we ad
opted her. We chose her because she was a little ball of snuggle...while she was sick. The moment she got well (which happened quickly with lots of TLC from us) her true nature prevailed.
Nani is Bombay, a cat whose personality closely resembles a panther. She's muscular and strong, and loves to hide so she can blind-side her prey. She sees humans as though they were the animals she might take down for Sunday dinner in the wild - to her, I'm just another hyena.
I've been a cat lover and caretaker all my life. Each "claimed me" as their own. We do not own cats, they own us. They are the master, we are their servants. The cats I've adopted in the past respected my love and devotion and returned it.
The way a cat "claims" a person is by rubbing against you. Most will do this when they want attention or food. They have glands in their necks that excrete a pheromone which they rub on you to tell other animals they have exclusive rights to you - their master is their territory. They acknowledge love and devotion by sitting on your lap and purring.
Nani has never claimed anyone in our household. She rubs against furniture, the carpet and many other inanimate objects. When she wants to be scratched under the neck, she jumps in my lap and licks my hand. When she's had enough, she hops down or gets nasty, sometimes nipping at me. She has a very wild nature.
As I watched her hide under a discarded mailer this morning, pupils dilated, body tensed for the leap, it occurred to me, Nani's not unlike we are in our relationship to God sometimes.
Our merciful Father has claimed us as his own. He provides for all our needs, whether we recognize Him or not. He loves us unconditionally, no matter how far we stray from Him.
Some people have asked me why I keep such an unloving cat in my home. Nani is just a helpless creature, terrified of the world outside and skittish even in the presence of those who care for her. We do love her. We know she isn't vicious to us out of any maliciousness. She is simply untamed. Perhaps she was abused and thrown out of her last home. Whatever the reason, she is still a living creature that needs love and care just like you and I.
That's how God sees mankind. The ardent atheist who denies His very existence and sets out to disprove God to those who love Him, is still a child of the Creator. A man doesn't have to believe he's created to be a created being. If he would rather believe his ancestors crawled out of some primordial slime, turned into gorillas and then morphed into humanity, that's his business. Nani may not understand that we're her Saviors, that had we left her in that shelter she would have died there. But we chose her, and we choose to continue to care for her for the length of her natural life.
In the same way, God provides for those who rebel against Him.
The difference is, one day, when the world as we know it comes to an end, God will capture the souls of those who love Him and resurrect them to be with Him eternally. Those who refused to acknowledge Him will be cast into the fire, like so much chaff, to be lost in damnation forever.
Today, I just want to curl up in the love of my Lord and feel His gentle care. I want to praise Him for every provision, for the roof over my head, the food in my belly and the Christmas lights twinkling across my mantle where my family's stockings are hung with love.
No matter how far we stray, how wicked we are, when we come to our senses and return home, our loving Father awaits us, runs to us,
falls on our necks with kisses and hugs.I'll be at home in my Savior for Christmas, how about you?
