I was sitting here at my dining table working on the computer – with the outside temps climbing up into the 90’s* F – when my driveway Ring started going off.
“Boing!”
“Boing!”
“Boing!”
“Boing!”
What on earth is going on in the driveway?? Especially in this heat??
I checked the driveway camera. A little old grandma was pacing back and forth up and down the driveway, seeming to be looking for something off in the woods.
That’s curious.
“Boing!”
“Boing!”
This time a younger middle-aged lady was also pacing the driveway, obviously very worried!
I took a look back through the driveway camera history. A couple of hours earlier the driveway camera had picked up a cat meandering down the driveway.
It had moseyed over to the side of the house where it had checked out the hummingbird feeder …
…. then it had moseyed up onto the front porch where it likewise checked out that hummingbird feeder.
Exactly 15 minutes later the driveway camera recorded the cat meandering back down the driveway towards the road.
I bet the worried ladies out in my driveway are looking for that cat.
I got my flip-flops on and headed out to ask about their cat.
Sure enough … the beloved feline had gone missing. They had been calling and calling … but he wasn’t coming. He always comes.
The younger middle-aged lady was very worried because two coyotes had been hanging out around the entrance of my driveway. And her cat’s tracker was signaling that it was in that area.
Had the two coyotes gotten her beloved cat?!?
Had they injured her beloved cat?!?
She asked me if I knew where the coyotes’ den is? Did I know??
As far as I know, the coyotes’ den is about a mile or so away in a “green belt” space between my neighborhood and the next neighborhood over.
I left the ladies to continue searching in the heat, but not before the neighbor lady gave me her phone number so I could let her know if I happened to see her cat. For the next 20 minutes my driveway Ring kept going off.
“Boing!”
“Boing!”
“Boing!”
“Boing!”
A text message came in on my phone: Can I please check underneath my house to see if her cat might be hiding under there?
I headed outside into the heat to look underneath the house. I could hear a great commotion of loud yelling and calling out near the end of my driveway.
I crawled underneath my house … but all was empty. No missing cat there.
Suddenly! A text message popped up on my phone: “He is up the tree!”
Oh the relief! I could immediately feel the relief flooding over everyone as the beloved cat had been found! The coyotes hadn’t gotten him after all. He was safely up in a tree!
Oh the relief!
My neighbor was probably overcome with tears of immense relief and joy! Her beloved cat was alive! Her beloved cat had been found!
This right here is but a tiny glimpse of what it’s like in heaven when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ! They were “dead” in their sin … but they have now been “made alive” by Jesus Christ! They were “lost” in their sin … but they have now been “found” and rescued from their sin.
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” – Ephesians 2:1-5
“This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” – Luke 15:24
“I tell you that … there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” – Luke 15:7
“Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” – Luke 15:8-10
