Always a Child of God

She was meowing somewhere in the house. I kept calling her name, “Belle, where are you?†I heard a weak answering meow. I went upstairs trying to follow the sound. I checked under the beds and in the bathroom shower stall. Then she went quiet. I called again, “Belle!†as I came back downstairs. I listened hard for her voice again and heard a sound near the front door. Had she slipped outside without my noticing? I checked the front porch. Nothing.

Where in the world was my poor little kitten? We’d only had her a few months, and she was just getting used to us and our big house. I continued calling, and she kept answering with her frightened meow. Finally, I followed the sound once more and stopped over the air vent near the front door where I’d heard her before. Could she possibly be in the basement? I always kept that door shut, but I ran through the kitchen, pulled open the basement door, and flicked on the light. I called down the stairs, “Belle, are you down there, baby?â€

She came around a dark corner and bounded up the stairs like a rocket, following the light. I snuggled her in my arms, and she responded with a deep purr. What a relief! Later my husband told me he’d been up and down the basement stairs. He had no idea she’d followed him down.

Sometimes, we can be like my lost kitten. Jesus is our source of light, and apart from Him, life is like a dark and confusing basement. When we go our own way, against God, our thoughts and actions are selfish, stubborn, restless…and we end up confused and afraid, unable to escape the darkness. Without Jesus, all of us are trapped in sin and brokenness. But our Lord is so good, and every time we cry out to Him, He answers. In fact, He never stops calling for each of His lost kittens. • Susan Sundwall

• In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables, one after another, about how God pursues us when we are lost and rejoices when we are reunited with Him! The first parable is about a shepherd who looked for his one lost sheep until he found it. Second, a woman searched her entire house for her lost coin until she found it. Third, a father watched and waited for his rebellious son until he came home. How might it be comforting to know that no matter what we have done, God doesn’t give up on us, and He longs for us to cry out and be reunited with Him?

• If you could cry out to God knowing He’d hear you, what would your cry sound like?

O Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness. 2 Samuel 22:29 (NLT)

Read Verses:

John 1:12; Romans 8:16; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 5:1-2