“What greater gift than the love of a cat.” Charles Dickens
 

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:17-18

“Every good and perfect gift is from above…”  This beautiful sentence is more musical in the Greek language – and is thought to be the fragment of some ancient Christian hymn. Two words are translated by our one “gift”; the first is rather the act of giving, the second the gift itself, and the effect of both, together is a climax to the reality of G-d’s good and gracious nature. The difference between the two is observed in the Genevan version of 1557 — “There are diversities of gifts”.

This text reminds us of the dual nature of G-d’s love for us – G-d gives us G-d’s love even when we do not deserve it. And the love G-d gifts us is like no other love we will ever receive – it is unconditional and it is unending. And if we are to be “..a kind of first fruits of his creation”, then we should, above all things, share the love of G-d with everyone we meet. G-d’s love is best expressed to us through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the sacrificial, self-giving kind of love that we are to model our love for others. The Hebrew word “Ahava” means love – but more importantly it means a love in which we give before we receive – in which we give more than we receive. For it is in giving to others that we show our love.

My cats give love unabashedly, and without expectation. We can learn a lot from cats – especially in how we can model our love. I just need to make sure I feed my cats by 5:00pm – or else……..

Pastor Dave