Today, only Joel and I were at the house. A day without females seemed like a good day to ask this question and get a co-conspirator. I said, "Joel, do you want put the cat on the roof and see if she can climb down?" His eyes lit up like most 10-year old boys would. He wanted to know what would happen if the cat could not get down. I said, "Well, Joel, that would mean you or I would have to get up on the roof and get her down." His eyes really lit up then. "Can it be me?" were the first words out of his mouth.
I put the cat on the roof to see if she could climb down for my "first."
The cat could not climb down (disclaimer: no cats were harmed in any way in this "first"). This may have been a result of Joel praying that way so one of us would have to climb up on the roof. I have no proof of this, but I do have circumstantial evidence. The cat also would not jump to me even though it was only a distance of a couple of feet. Joel got on my shoulders and could reach up to the roof and the cat would stay just out of his reach.
We came to decision time pretty quickly. There are certain people that I did not want to drive by while the cat was on the roof. It was either hunt a ladder for me to get on the roof or Joel climb up the little tree by the house and get on the roof. Joel voted very strongly for him to get on the roof. He managed that with very little trouble and a lot of laughs. When he got up there, he said, "This is awesome." He got the cat down and then wanted to know if he could stay up there for a while. I said sure because it is pretty cool up there.
That is not laughter; just nervous about the cat
Joel to the rescue
All is forgiven; I hope
Roof selfie
I really thought the cat might be able to climb down. I've seen the cat climbing a lot of things lately and thought coming down the tree would not be that difficult. I came away with two thoughts about this "first." One is I think the only thing that held the cat back was her fears. She was the only thing in her way. That has been so true of me too often in my life with Jesus. There have been things that I thought God wanted me to do but my fear got in the way. I was afraid of looking ridiculous, appearing silly, being made fun of, or failing. What I should have realized is that not trying is failing. Trying out of obedience and faith is always better than sitting still in fear. If I'm too afraid to try I am certainly not being a success. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." We don't need to let fear rob us of the joy of abundant living with Jesus.
The other thing I came away with is that the cat needed someone to go get her. I told her numerous times there was nothing to be afraid of and that we could get her if she would just jump. That didn't work at all. I tried to show her the tree to get her to climb down and she just would not pay attention. If she was coming down, someone was going up. For us to go up to heaven, someone had to come down to earth. Jesus came way down. He came down to a feeding trough, ridicule of the people He created, and death on a cross. He came way down to pay for our sin and bring us into a right relationship with God that is real and personal. When I could not go to where He was, He came to me. He's come to you as well. Praise God that He came to us. I'm so glad that I worship a Savior who takes the first step and comes after us. I trust that will help you to praise Him with a heart of love.
Oh, and don't put the cat on the roof unless you want to go get it.
Grateful that the abundant life God has come for us
Barry
3 things I thank God for today
1. We got the cat off the roof safely
2. A kind friend who brought me a cord for my computer
3. Jesus came for you and me
No comments:
Post a Comment