A Lesson from Gurt -- God Loves Us As We Are

Today I am going to share about our cat Gurt. When Gurt's mother was pregnant, Christopher (my youngest son, 8 years old at the time) loved yogurt more than any other food. We like to play around with words and we would break yogurt up to “Yo! Gurt.” We joked that we could name one of the kittens Yogurt and call it saying Yo! Gurt. Well, her name ended up being just Gurt, or Gurt Gurt.

Have you ever heard the expression "Curiosity killed the cat”? Well, that describes Gurt. She has to examine and explore everything. She has to check out every box, every surface of the house, and the “great wilds” around our home. She can be extremely mischievous.

As in the photo above, she is frequently in the way. She used to love sitting on the monitor, often with her tail in the way of the screen. (She would still do it except we now have flats screen monitors). As a kitten she and her littermate would climb the Christmas tree and attack each other from the top limbs, toppling the tree more than once. S he loves to get on my desk and knock papers onto the floor. She jumps up onto my wardrobe where I have things collecting for a clothing exchange at church. She knocks down some things, or makes herself comfortable and takes a nap. I then have to re-wash the items she has covered with fur. It doesn't matter what I try to do to stop her from jumping up there, she finds a way.

She has figured out how to open doors that do not latch, such as our bathroom door. She lets herself in when I am taking a shower, letting out all the warm air. I then have to get out into a very cold bathroom. Her favourite time to seek my attention is when I am in that room.

The most frustrating thing is when she brings me presents from the great wilds around our house. A lot of people share stories about how their cats will leave dead mice as presents. Well, Gurt loves to play. So, she brings me live critters so I can play, too. (Chipmunks are much worse than mice – they climb the wall halfway and then throw themselves at you!) From her frame of reference, as I go chasing mice or chipmunks all around the house, I am playing. She has the satisfaction of knowing that she has given her mom a good gift!

I love Gurt. I am sometimes annoyed by her, especially at her gift of chipmunks! But, really, she is just being a cat. It is her nature to be curious. It is her nature to enjoy boxes and heights. It is her nature to hunt and play. It is her nature to seek attention when it is convenient to her. Some of the things that frustrate me about Gurt, are really things that endear her to me (and the rest of the family).

Well, we are made in the image of God. In some ways, the way we love our pets has similarities to how God loves us. Just as I accept Gurt's sometimes frustrating behaviour, realizing it is simply her nature as a cat, God accepts us. It was only in the past few years that I came to understand that God knows I am human and He is OK with that. In print, that statement seems so basic, so obvious. However, for over 20 years as a Christian, it was anything but obvious!

I understood that God loved me. However, I felt like He was always disappointed in me. As much as I tried by my power and with His power to get rid of the sin in my life, I still remain a sinner. For me to understand that God is OK with that was life-changing. Yes, He wants us to repent and grow, but He knows that I will not be perfect until I enter the gates of Heaven.

Rom 5:8 tells us: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Did you see that? While I was still a sinner Christ died for me! While you were still a sinner, Christ died for you! Jesus didn't die for us at our best, but at our worst! He knows that we are human and it is in our nature to sin. He loves us even with the sin in our lives!

I had a prayer walk the other day where I tried to understand how He could hate sin so much, yet love us sinners. It is so hard for me to separate the sin from the sinner. I got the response that He delights in our transformation. He delights with every change in our lives that brings us closer to our original glory. He loves it when we repent.

Jesus declares in Luke 15: 7, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Most of the time we understand this verse in the context of someone coming to know Jesus. However, that morning I got the sense that it applies to each one of us with each sin we repent of. Jesus delights in every step of our journey that brings us into a closer relationship with Him.

Oh Holy Father,

We praise Your wonderful Name! You are a God of great love, mercy and faithfulness! We thank You for Your Word and the wisdom it provides. We thank You that it is living and active. A passage can speak to us is a new way after seeing it one way for many years. Thank You for our pets and the joy they bring to us. Thank You that You can use almost anything in our lives to teach us about You. Thank You that You accept us where we are. You don't just accept us, You love us. You loved us at our worst. You will continue to love us in ways that will refine us to become who You want us to be. You delight in each step of repentance. May there be repentance in my life today that will bring You joy! May each person reading this also take a step of repentance that will bring them closer to You. May You open our eyes and our hearts to see the evidence of Your love that is all around us!.

All glory and praise and honour to the God of mercy and love!