February 2024

Dear Cobham Park Church Family,
Have you heard the parable of “Cobby Cat”? I didn’t think so. I must admit that I’m not a huge cat fan. I don’t have anything against them, but, compared with dogs, cats strike me as a bit aloof. If I’m in close quarters with a cat for more than a few hours, my itchy eyes tell me that an allergic reaction is in progress. And since I’ve never lived around cats, I’d have no idea how to care for one. But I do digress; I’m supposed to be telling you about Cobby Cat—who also happens to be our unofficial church mascot.
I was eating Raisin Bran at my kitchen table one morning when I heard an odd noise outside. stopped chewing to listen more closely. It was an intermittent, staccato, squawking sort of sound. I thought to myself, “There it is again! Is that a bird? Maybe an animal distress call?” I walked out into my front yard to investigate, and quickly located the sound’s source. Cowering under some weeds in a nearby window well, I discovered a tiny, half-starved kitten. I went back inside and called my neighbors, but none of them admitted to owning any kittens. One lady pointed out that people sometimes dump unwanted pets along the nearby roadside. I realized that I had an orphaned cat on my hands. It had obviously wandered some distance in search of refuge, and would soon die if left alone. I was already running late to appointments and I had no obligation to care for this animal. I didn’t feel like troubling myself any further—but pity took over.
After calling a friend who has more feline experience than anyone else I know, I unashamedly begged for assistance. He agreed to meet me at church if I could get the kitten there. I spent the next half-hour trying to keep a terrified kitten in a box nestled in my truck floorboard. I was trying to help the little guy, but he acted like I was trying to kill him (did you know that kitten claws are sharp as briars?). To make a long story short, my friend saved the day by tenderly nursing the kitten back to good health and adopting it as his own. The church office staff unanimously declared that since this kitten was rescued by Cobham Park’s Pastor, it would henceforth be named “Cobby Cat”! And now, after a few months, Cobby Cat is all grown up—a healthy, happy, and much-loved member of his new family.
So, why did I introduce this story as a “parable”? Because Cobby Cat’s salvation reminds me of my own. There I was: discarded, spiritually lost, and dying. But my Lord looked for me. He found me. He reached down to where I was cowering. He picked me up. I’m ashamed to admit that I fought Him all the way. My selfish soul bristled and clawed at the very idea that I needed saving. And the sinful part of me continues to resist Him. But the Lord’s patience outlasts my resistance. Yes, Jesus, you were willing to be more than inconvenienced! You gave Yourself on the cross to bring me into Your Father’s adopted family. I may not be spiritually grown up yet, but I am growing because He is caring. Day by day and year by year, He is nursing me back to true health. And I also have a loving church family of former strays. Only my Lord can herd cats!
In His Love,
Pastor Keith