Grace Cat (Part 3)

READ: JOHN 3:36; ROMANS 8:12-17; 1 JOHN 3:1

Oliver, the cat I adopted years ago, is asleep on the couch beside me right now. He’s gained a little weight over the years, and now he’s quite fat and happy. He’s had a wonderful life since he decided to trust us and take the gift of grace my family extended to him that week we left food out on the porch. And now he’s reaping the benefits!

But about a month after Oliver joined our family, another cat was spotted wandering around our house. He was a beige cat with orange spots, and he was very skinny. We’d see him jumping in and out of our garbage can, searching for food. I named him Popeye, and he looked like he was in pretty bad shape.

In my cat-adopting enthusiasm (I may have a small problem), I left a bowl of food out for our new guest! Popeye was afraid—I could see it in his eyes. He never let anyone from my family get within ten feet of him before darting into the woods.

Every once in a while, he would venture up to the porch for a few bites of food. But I only saw him a few times before, one day, he took off and never came back.

The same grace that was extended to Oliver, the fluffy, chubby gray cat sleeping beside me, was extended to the fearful cat who spent a few cold weeks living in our garbage can. If Popeye had only accepted our free gift like Oliver did, his life would look a lot different.

This was another huge lesson about grace that I learned from cats. If we reject the free gift God is offering to us—the gift of adoption and eternal life in Christ— we only hurt ourselves. But when we embrace the gift—when we open our hands to the grace God wants to shower on us—our lives will never be the same because, in Christ, we are now beloved members of God’s kingdom and family. • Emily Tenter

• What questions do you have about God’s gift of grace and adoption? Who could you talk to about these questions? (If you want to dig deeper into what it means to know Jesus, be sure to check out our “Know Jesus” page.)

• What are some of the reasons someone might reject the gift of eternal life?

• What are specific ways you can show others the love and grace of Jesus?

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” Romans 8:15 (CSB)