The Devil and the Cat

The Devil and the Cat

I was only ten years old and my cousin Linda was eleven that summer when we went to stay with Grandma and Grandpa on their farm in Georgia. I wasn't very happy about going but mom said she just couldn't put up with me getting into trouble all summer. She needed to work and I needed to learn some discipline. Since Dad had left two years ago I had gotten too big for my britches she said.

I think cousin Linda was there for the same lessons since she sure was a mean little girl; she teased me relentlessly and was always trying to get me in trouble. No matter how hard I tried she would always outsmart me and when I did get her she would always turn the tables and start crying which got me into trouble anyway.

Grandpa wasted no time in putting me to work. First thing in the morning there were eggs to gather and chickens to feed.
Three cows to milk and feed, then we ate breakfast before going out to the garden. It seemed there were always weeds to pull. I never knew weeds could grow so fast. Since the corn and the other crops still had some growing to do, after lunch grandpa usually took me fishing which was fun except then we had to clean them which wasn't so much fun.

One day Grandpa gave me a sling shot. He said I could have it as long as I played with it in the woods. I practiced for days but never could hit anything I was aiming at. Walking back to the house one day completely disgusted with myself for being such a bad shot I saw Grandma's cat out hunting mice in the field; without thinking I picked up a small rock and fired away at the cat, a perfect shot hit the cat right in the head. When I got to it there it lay dead as could be. I was in shock and in my panic I hid it in the bushes only to look up and see Cousin Linda watching me.

Linda didn't say a word. She just smiled at me with a look that I sure didn't like. After dinner that night Grandma told Linda to gather up the dishes and help her wash them. Linda said, "Bobby told me he wanted to help you tonight."
Then she whispered to me, "Remember the cat?" So I helped Grandma do the dishes.

The next day after lunch Grandpa asked if we wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, "I need Linda to stay and help me here at the house, you take Bobby." Linda smiled and said, "That's all right Grandma, Bobby said he wanted to stay and help you today." She whispered again to me "Remember the cat?" So I stayed and helped Grandma while Linda went fishing.

After several days of me doing all of my chores and Linda's too I couldn't stand it anymore. I went to Grandma and confessed about killing the cat. To my great surprise Grandma knelt down and put her arms around me and said, "Oh sweetheart I know because I was standing at the kitchen window watching you. I saw the whole thing but because I love you, I forgave you knowing you have a good heart and would not have used the sling shot if you had known in advance what the outcome would have been. I was just wondering how long you would let Linda make a slave out of you."

What a lesson I learned that day! Whatever it is that we have done in the past, whatever horrible sin we have committed, we can't let Satan make a slave out of us by throwing it back in our face to keep us in sin. We need to always realize that God was standing in the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen everything we have ever done in our lives. He just wants us to know He loves us and that if we'll come to Him He will forgive us. He's just wondering how long we'll let Satan make a slave out of us.

The great thing about God is when we ask for forgiveness He not only forgives but also forgets. Psalms 103: 8-13 KJV
⁸The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
⁹He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

Whatever hold Satan has on you today, give it to Father and be a slave no longer for He will remove it as far as the East is from the West.

Bob Goulding © April 2007