Lessons from my cat

"created for good works"

Ephesians 2:10

I love my cat.

She's chatty and sociable. 

She's soft and cuddly.

She's playful and energetic. 

I love my cat. 

Except at bedtime...

Things used to be fine, but lately ~ the past several months ~ as soon as we turn off the light, she starts meowing.  Yowling.  Meyowling.  It's loud and it's incessant.  I have some success squirting her with a water sprayer, but it's fairly tricky to hit a black cat in a dark room when I'm sleepy. 

It's been frustrating because I don't know what she's trying to say.  She's got food and water; why can't she just settle down and go to sleep??

Well, the other day I happened to stumble on a show about cats on TV.   The host of the show tries to help people understand why their cats are misbehaving, and he was working with a couple whose cats were fighting every night at bedtime.  He told them that part of the problem is that the cats aren't getting enough playtime during the day; they're too energetic at bedtime, and so when one of them growls at the other, they both are all too willing to go at it. 

This was helpful for me to know, as a cat owner whose pet clearly has too much energy.  Playing with her before bedtime will help her to be tired when I'm tired.   The lesson is that she needs to be more active during the day.  She'd like to just sleep all day, but she's got to get that energy out sometime. 

I think there's a lesson in there for us, too.  We are meant to serve, to love, to bless others.   There are those who, once they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, seem to want to rest in that salvation, without any goal or hope to achieve anything for Him.   But if all God wanted to achieve in our lives was eternal life with Him, then He'd take us home the minute we had accepted that gift.  But He has us here on earth to do things.  We have energy, creativity, and gifts to be used for Him, to bless others.   That's how He designed us. 

So rest when you must, but not when you should be doing.

~ "we are His workmanship, 

created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand 

that we should walk in them" ~

Ephesians 2:10