First Baptist Danville Indiana - Pointing People To Christ

Cat on a Leash

Friday, July 16th, 2010 by Jon McDugle

What’s up with the cat on the leash?

It all began with the dream of a cute little white puppy. Our kids wanted a dog. We did our best to delay the day. But all the hydraulic power of the Mississippi can’t touch the power of a daughter’s “Please daddy”! So we found a dog that was packing more than “cuteness”. It had an attitude. It bit Jessie twice. We weren’t playing baseball – 2 strikes was an out!

So what do you do with a heartbroken little girl? You get her a fish! But grandma came through with a cat. I didn’t grow up with a cat. Cats spook me. But this cat seemed to erase the memory of the dog and so we adopted it, named it Midnight (it’s black) and gave it a place to stay on the back porch.

Approximately four years later I’m here to tell you that cat is one of the coolest creatures I’ve ever met!

If ever there was a LOVE BIG cat…Midnight is it! It actually hugs Jessie when she holds it. Jessie and her friends would do the unthinkable… dress it up in doll cloths and push it around in the stroller… and the cat seemed to actually enjoy entertaining them! Midnight became part of the family.

But all good things come to end. We moved into a neighborhood that doesn’t allow cats to roam free. Jessie loved midnight and didn’t want to give it away. SO we opted to keep him on a lease in the garage. Thus, the cat on a lease… Jessie’s LOVE won’t let it go!

When I pulled into the driveway last night the cat was gone! Jessie in a moment of LOVE BIG passion made the decision to give the cat to a family who can let him run “leash free”!   Midnight never knew it could be so good! Thankfully Jessie has visitation privileges.

Question – What’s more messed up than a cat on a leash? Answer – a human on a leash! And I’m not talking about the kid at Disney. Full grown humans leashed up. Jesus points to the reality in John 8.34 – “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” As humans we’re born “leashed up”. But Jesus also said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Question – what are we set free to do? On Sunday we’ll be talking about it!

I hope you can join us as we celebrate our being “leash free”!

Jon

Jon McDugle is the lead pastor at First Baptist Church in Danville, Indiana (map). He can be reached by email at jon@firstbaptistdanville.com. Learn more about our church, our staff and don't forget to subscribe to Jon's weekly blog posts by rss or email. See all posts written by Jon.