LEARNING DAILY

John 18:37, Pilate said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered. “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

I have been trying to communicate with Ranger, our beloved cat. I have read some of the “expert” research about how to do that. For instance, if I look at him and slowly close my eyes, it tells him he is special to me. I have even read that I should follow that up with a yawn-like gesture. I’m not totally sure what the significance of that is. Now, I have noticed when I slowly close my eyes, he does slowly close his eyes in response. Now that might be a response of, “Oh brother, what is this human doing?”

I have also tried talking to him; it does not matter that I know all he must hear is noise. For you who have pets, do you ever wonder what it would be like if they could understand your words and communicate back to you so you could understand? I try to tell him things that would help him live a little bit better. For instance, it was really cool outside (39 degrees). I tried to tell him that he might want to go out to do his business (no cat litter inside) and come back in. He just looked at me and went out his cat window. Other times I am trying to help make his life a little easier and he looks at me and moves his mouth a little and does what he wants. Once in a while I may even get a meow or a growl in response to what I am saying/doing. All the things I try to guide him with or help him with are usually ignored; for the most part, “he just does not get it”.

That got me thinking of all the signs and help God gives people in the world. How many times have you heard that small still voice say “don’t go there!” How many times have you been told to don’t say anything. Have you thought that you should not do this or that because you just “feel” that it is not right or that something is wrong – you just don’t know why? What about those times when you hear the old question, “Did God really say or mean that?” That’s the Holy Spirit trying to guide you away from harm or evil, guiding you onto the narrow way to eternity in God’s kingdom. But, like Ranger, we just go ahead and do what we want, ignoring the signs and the small still voice of the Holy Spirit wanting to help us stay out of trouble.

Because people ignoring the voices of the prophets who passed on God’s demands for following Him, because people just did not “get it”, the Lord Jesus had to come to this earth. He came the first time as the “Prince of Peace” to pass along the message the Father wanted the people to hear and to call the people to repentance through faith in Him; “I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice”. He is coming again as the King of kings and Lord of lords to establish His kingdom on earth. Until He returns, Believers are to live their lives by walking on a narrow way, living not for themselves but for Him. We need to please Him in every way possible and stop ignoring that way of life He demands.

It was great timing. Ranger jumped up to sit on the computer. I guess he wanted to emphasize the point of the blog today. He followed my leading for a short time. Against my best guidance, he is ready to go back out in the cool air. Walk in the guidance of the Holy Spirit today. The King is coming, and He wants His followers to be ready, alert, and watching for Him. We do that by walking according to His Word and in obedience to His guidance on a narrow way.