knead2sew: Cats and Shadows

Cats love to chase anything...they will chase shadows with zealous fervor, certain that the thing they see moving is alive and real! I enjoy watching them as they play with anything that shows movement.....even if the movement is only a shape cast from an object concealing the light!

I have found in my own life's experience that religion was like that....I was chasing shadows and coming up empty. We go through the motions of observing religious rituals and even serving God - but we come away without anything tangible...our hearts

remain unoccupied - hollow....and we wonder why. We have supposedly "done" everything required in order to achieve the desired result of spirituality, but we don't find it there....we are disappointed, disillusioned and discouraged.

and we ask ourselves....

"What's it all about, anyway? Is it worth the effort anymore? I thought I'd "feel" something if I went through the rituals, the motions, even the "goodness" of serving God in ministry, for heaven's sake!"

Well, I found out that God is NOT in the shadows - He is real, He is here with us, He does care after all! And most of all, I found out that He doesn't want me "going through the motions of religious activity" - He wants me - my whole heart, mind, soul and

strength! And I discovered that if I seek Him, I will find Him - if I take time to just be with Him - sharing my heart, listening for that still, small voice - He is there. He listens, He even speaks - mostly through His Word - the bible - but I have heard his voice in my thoughts and it is a beautiful thing!

So I'm not chasing shadows anymore...I'm chasing...HIM! In the book of Colossians that Paul wrote, it says.. ⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world rather than on Christ.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh^[b] was put off when you were circumcised by^[c] Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.^[e]¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Paul nails it here - Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets - the entire Old Testament - He said that Himself in Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill them."

So...no more shadows for me - God has shown me the way to true fulfillment - in a relationship with Jesus, my Savior!

I encourage you to think about these things as we near Good Friday and Easter. Jesus came for a reason - and He died for a reason - and He rose again in order to provide salvation for us - not religion - but a real, vibrant, living & breathing relationship - one that is satisfying in every respect! Just don't allow yourself to get caught

up in the wearying activity, the "doing of the thing" - get captured by the Love of God Himself and just rest in His Glorious Presence each day and let Him fill you...as the disillusionment, frustration and sadness drain away from you all the while.

(this guy is certainly not anxious for anything!)

The joy of the Lord is my strength! And shall be evermore!

(Cats "get" this concept of not worrying!)

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace that passes all understanding shall guard your hearts and your minds." Philippians 4:6 & 7.

No more shadows...only the glorious reality of....HIM!

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10. Go in peace today, my friend and know God's power, love and grace! It's there simply for the asking.