I love it when someone says, "You should write a blog post about that!" So thanks to Adrienne for suggesting I write about this particular story.
When Stewart and I took our first pastorate in Forestburg, Texas in 2003, one of the only questions I asked the search committee was, "May I have a cat in the parsonage?" They agreed, and not long after moving in our first real home, we adopted an 8-year-old part Siamese kitty named Charlie. Charlie only lasted with us a few months when he passed away unexpectedly. After a couple of months, we adopted a large black cat from the ASPCA in Dallas. We named him Jag because we passed a Jaguar sedan on the freeway on the way home. Jag became our first "baby." We doted on him like he was a real child, and he loved us right back with a great deal of affection.
Now my mom, who was also a great lover of cats, knew we had this cat. She had met Jag. She loved Jag. Jag loved her and slept with her when she visited. Those of you who knew my mom know that she also had a great love of Goodwill. She was apt to visit there several times a week, and we never knew what she would come home with - some of it good, some of it not so much. Christmas had become interesting with her in those years to say the least. I remember one year when every single gift she gave us still had the Goodwill tags on them. While on the way home to Texas, we returned the great majority of those gifts to their home at Goodwill.
Well, one particular Christmas after we had had Jag for several years, Mom gave us the most odd gift I think I've ever gotten in my whole life. Mom was so excited for me to open this gift. She was almost giddy! I was excited to open it since she was so excited. My excitement was short-lived. I opened the box only to find inside a white, furry, stuffed cat that when you held it a certain way, it meowed and purred. I would like to tell you that this cat was cute, but I cannot. It was just creepy. As Mom gushed over how much she loved this cat and just thought it was the funniest thing, I looked at Stewart only to see the puzzled look on his face. Finally after a few minutes of silence, I said, "Mom, you do realize we have an actual, LIVING cat at home in Texas?"
"Well, yes," she replied. "But I thought this was funny!"
"Mom, why would we want this when we have a real cat at home?"
Her feelings were sort of hurt, as you can imagine. But really. Why would we want a fake copy of something when we own the original?
When we put anything before God, when we spend our time, talents, and resources on something that does not honor Him, when we put our faith in people or objects that cannot satisfy, we are buying the fake copy when the Original is available to us for NO COST. The cost has already been paid because Jesus bought us with His own blood that He shed on the cross. Why would we settle for plastic, fake fur, and batteries, when the living, breathing, Word of God is waiting for us to come home to Him?
“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.” (Habakkuk 2:18-19)
Anything we put before God is our idol. We have fashioned it with our own hands. We have set it up on a pedestal ourselves. It won't tell you the truth. It will only speak lies. It won't satisfy. It's the fake copy. Jesus Christ is the Real Deal. Why put your hope in something that isn't real?
"The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)
When Stewart and I took our first pastorate in Forestburg, Texas in 2003, one of the only questions I asked the search committee was, "May I have a cat in the parsonage?" They agreed, and not long after moving in our first real home, we adopted an 8-year-old part Siamese kitty named Charlie. Charlie only lasted with us a few months when he passed away unexpectedly. After a couple of months, we adopted a large black cat from the ASPCA in Dallas. We named him Jag because we passed a Jaguar sedan on the freeway on the way home. Jag became our first "baby." We doted on him like he was a real child, and he loved us right back with a great deal of affection.
Now my mom, who was also a great lover of cats, knew we had this cat. She had met Jag. She loved Jag. Jag loved her and slept with her when she visited. Those of you who knew my mom know that she also had a great love of Goodwill. She was apt to visit there several times a week, and we never knew what she would come home with - some of it good, some of it not so much. Christmas had become interesting with her in those years to say the least. I remember one year when every single gift she gave us still had the Goodwill tags on them. While on the way home to Texas, we returned the great majority of those gifts to their home at Goodwill.
Well, one particular Christmas after we had had Jag for several years, Mom gave us the most odd gift I think I've ever gotten in my whole life. Mom was so excited for me to open this gift. She was almost giddy! I was excited to open it since she was so excited. My excitement was short-lived. I opened the box only to find inside a white, furry, stuffed cat that when you held it a certain way, it meowed and purred. I would like to tell you that this cat was cute, but I cannot. It was just creepy. As Mom gushed over how much she loved this cat and just thought it was the funniest thing, I looked at Stewart only to see the puzzled look on his face. Finally after a few minutes of silence, I said, "Mom, you do realize we have an actual, LIVING cat at home in Texas?"
"Well, yes," she replied. "But I thought this was funny!"
"Mom, why would we want this when we have a real cat at home?"
Her feelings were sort of hurt, as you can imagine. But really. Why would we want a fake copy of something when we own the original?
When we put anything before God, when we spend our time, talents, and resources on something that does not honor Him, when we put our faith in people or objects that cannot satisfy, we are buying the fake copy when the Original is available to us for NO COST. The cost has already been paid because Jesus bought us with His own blood that He shed on the cross. Why would we settle for plastic, fake fur, and batteries, when the living, breathing, Word of God is waiting for us to come home to Him?
“Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.” (Habakkuk 2:18-19)
Anything we put before God is our idol. We have fashioned it with our own hands. We have set it up on a pedestal ourselves. It won't tell you the truth. It will only speak lies. It won't satisfy. It's the fake copy. Jesus Christ is the Real Deal. Why put your hope in something that isn't real?
"The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)
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| Zach and Jag the cat, Easter 2012 |
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