Ready to Pounce

Picture provided from funnycatsite.com

As I was out running this morning, I ran past a vacant lot.  I had all the marks of being vacant.  The grass was grown up, weeds had overtaken a large part of it. The "For Sale" sign was no longer visible.  And then...there were cats.  My eye was drawn to little black and white cat, that I obviously startled as I ran by.  In the moments before being "discovered" the cat was hunched down, slowly creeping through the grass, stalking its prey and was ready to pounce.  As I ran by, the cat jerked its head around to see me pass, maybe giving just enough time for its prey to escape.  For the rest of my run I could not help but think about that cat and the spiritual lessons God was teaching me through it.

1 Peter 5:8 reminds us that our enemy, Satan, stalks around like a roaring lion seeking someone to destroy.  That cat was obviously on the prowl.  It had prey in its sights and was ready to destroy.  I'm sure that the prey was not even aware that the cat was even around.  How aware are we of the enemy who lurks around us, seeking to destroy us?  Most of us live our lives absorbed with the events of the day and little else. We pay little attention to what is going on around us. All the while, we very well may be walking into our demise.  Satan is real and he seeks to destroy you.

That cat this morning also taught me about my focus on Christ.  There are times that we are focused on Christ, but at the critical moment we get distracted by something that is just passing by.  In that moment we remove our focus from our goal and give our attention to something of less importance.  How often does that happen concerning Christ? In that moment that the cat looked at me and took its eyes off its prey, the prey could have escaped.  Romans 8:5 reminds us that if we desire the Spirit then we must set our minds on the Spirit.  We pursue the things that our mind is set on.  Set your mind on Christ and pursue Him.