Cat In The Manger
I read an article this morning about a cat napping in a manger at a church in England. The clickbait that caught my attention read something like, "cat kicks baby Jesus out of manger for a nap, world goes wild..."
As I read along, I was pretty entertained, as this cat is apparently the resident church cat. She gets into various types of church mischief. She once jumped into a coffin, which banned her from funerals. But, the further I read the more I realized the click bait I had fallen for-the world wasn't going wild at all. At least not in the sense that I interpreted it to be. On the contrary, like myself, the church people were pretty entertained by the cat's latest stunt of kicking baby Jesus out of the manger to nap.
And though that's a silly thing, one that makes animal lovers all over the world giggle, it made me think. Today, who is in my manger? Who is in your manger? What, church people, are we entertaining ourselves with? Like the cat, how often do we kick Jesus aside for our own agenda? Don't we sometimes just push him to the outside edges of the manger, or heart, that rightfully belongs to Him and make it our own?
We stretch out and grow comfortable in our sin and daily routines that often don't leave much room for Him. We bed down in it for a while, less Jesus, more me and we get comfortable there, in that dry hay. But like the cat, the comfort of an empty manger, void of a Savior, filled only with added fluff, after a while begins to itch and cause much discomfort. We begin to recognize that what once seemed appealing, now feels cold, empty and lonely. We start to itch, not from the hay, but from the growing void of dissatisfaction and lack of fulfillment that can only be sanctified by a baby in a manger, a Savior in our hearts.
I doubt the cat returned baby Jesus to His rightful resting place in the manger after his nap, but you and I can. We aren't the first to say "There's no room for you here" to Jesus. He entered the world on that precedent, and yet He still chose to redeem us through His death. Today I wonder, who is in your manger? Let it be Jesus...let His peace rule in your heart, your manger, and be thankful.
"Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me..."
Psalm 51:10
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
As I read along, I was pretty entertained, as this cat is apparently the resident church cat. She gets into various types of church mischief. She once jumped into a coffin, which banned her from funerals. But, the further I read the more I realized the click bait I had fallen for-the world wasn't going wild at all. At least not in the sense that I interpreted it to be. On the contrary, like myself, the church people were pretty entertained by the cat's latest stunt of kicking baby Jesus out of the manger to nap.
And though that's a silly thing, one that makes animal lovers all over the world giggle, it made me think. Today, who is in my manger? Who is in your manger? What, church people, are we entertaining ourselves with? Like the cat, how often do we kick Jesus aside for our own agenda? Don't we sometimes just push him to the outside edges of the manger, or heart, that rightfully belongs to Him and make it our own?
We stretch out and grow comfortable in our sin and daily routines that often don't leave much room for Him. We bed down in it for a while, less Jesus, more me and we get comfortable there, in that dry hay. But like the cat, the comfort of an empty manger, void of a Savior, filled only with added fluff, after a while begins to itch and cause much discomfort. We begin to recognize that what once seemed appealing, now feels cold, empty and lonely. We start to itch, not from the hay, but from the growing void of dissatisfaction and lack of fulfillment that can only be sanctified by a baby in a manger, a Savior in our hearts.
I doubt the cat returned baby Jesus to His rightful resting place in the manger after his nap, but you and I can. We aren't the first to say "There's no room for you here" to Jesus. He entered the world on that precedent, and yet He still chose to redeem us through His death. Today I wonder, who is in your manger? Let it be Jesus...let His peace rule in your heart, your manger, and be thankful.
"Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me..."
Psalm 51:10
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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