Tuning your spiritual ears to listen for God is always advisable. I expect God to 'talk' to me, so I listen for it. I've written before about what I call 'the holy tap on the shoulder' when God is making a point with me. This morning I was taking care of my outside business; feeding the wild cats, garden duties, etc when God spoke to me not once but twice in a couple of minute's time about what seemed to be two separate issues.
First, as I put out cat food, I had to chase off a couple of feral male cats that I have not committed to feeding, though they are frequent guest at 'Hacienda Bermea Cat Buffet'. As I chased them off I spiritually heard 'Yes, I tell you that whenever you did these things one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!" Cats, God? This applies to cats, too? Really?!
Of course, the verse is out of Matthew 25 and that line comes from the paragraph verses 34-40…..'Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared fro you from the founding of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you made me your guest, I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' The king will say to them, 'Yes, I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me.'
Ok, but does this apply to feeding all the hungry cats that show up? Are we counting animals as 'the least important of these brothers of mine'? We read in Job 12:7-10 when he is responding to his friends(?)….. "But ask the animals – they will teach you - and the birds in the air – they will tell you – or speak to the earth – it will teach you – and the fishes in the sea will inform you: everyone one of them knows that the hand of Adonai has done this! In his hand is the life of every living thing and the spirit of every human being.
I'm sure this could be debated for eons by the various theologians but the key words in theses verse that made my spine tingle was "In his hand is the life of every living thing and the spirit of every human being." If the kitties and my spirit are cradled in the same palm of God, who am I to say they do not count? As hardheaded as I can be sometimes, this verse reverberated within my spirit, and I decided that second guessing God is a path down a rocky road I choose not to travel. I had gladly fed the two cats I wanted to feed but tried to run off any I had not hand picked. Hind-sight being the wonderful tool it is, I looked back at those efforts to run off some of the cats through eyes that just read Matthew 25:40 and felt conviction. In discussing this with my good friend, Mina, she said, "You know, Mimi, I believe God sent them to your door because you and Papa John have a heart for cats. He doesn't send cats to my door. He sends those in need to those that can and will help."
If God did direct them to our door because He knows my Honey and I have a soft spot for them and WOULD feed them, I sure do not want to be the one turning the hungry and thirsty cats away. At this moment in time we have a litter of kittens living under our house born just last Thursday. The momma cat is one I chose to feed because she showed up one day looking very much like a young homeless kitty. She is still very skittish and does not allow us to touch her but we are gaining ground. Today, for the first time, she walked up to my outstretched hand and sniffed my fingers. I was so excited and happy! Silly, isn't it, yet it filled me with joy! ……Hmmm, makes me wonder now why I didn't consider the cats a gift from God rather than pests we spend money on to feed. Through the eyes of God, the situation looks very different! There's a lesson in there, Friends!
You'll have to come back tomorrow to get the other message from God this morning…this ran a bit too long to include the 2nd message. See you then!
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