SNEAKIN'S GIFT

The best gifts are those given freely with no strings attached, and given out of love. Years ago, my husband and I received such a precious gift. It wasn’t fitted into a box and wrapped in gay paper. It was given simply, hesitantly as if testing to see if we were

worthy. We treasured that gift. Then one day he was gone and we were left with a only a memory.

The story began early one morning when the alarm clock rang. With sleep, fogging my brain, I swung off the bed and as my feet hit the floor, a dark shape streaked through the bedroom and out the window. Perhaps a neighbor’s cat I thought and dismissed the incident.

However, the next morning it happened again. The third morning I closed the escape route, then slipped into the next room, and there, cowering under a chair was a cat. He flattened his skinny body against the wall and sent a defiant message with snarling teeth and fierce green eyes.

I backed away then returned armed with a can of kitty food. Using a broom handle, I slid it toward him. After several moments, he crept forward and wolfed it down. I opened the door and with a leap, the cat was gone.

His hunger drove him back repeatedly. He no longer ran away and hid. Gradually, his trust grew and he began to enjoy being handle and even allowed us to swab his ugly battle wounds. We named him Sneakin’.

Although we offered him a home full of love and care he couldn’t make that commitment; Sneakin’ was too set in his ways to change. Yet, he continued to visit us regularly until one day he just disappeared.

Sneakin’s story reminds me of me. I, too, lived a life of running, hiding and trying to survive. I felt so lost and alone. If I disappeared, would anyone care?

Like Sneakin’, I was starving, not for food, what I needed was a better life, one that offered hope and a future. Co-workers encouraged me to read the Bible and go to church. They told me wonderful changes had happened in their lives when they had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Like Sneakin’, I was afraid.

Finally, my hunger for change overcame my fear, scared yet determined, I went. I took a seat near the door because if any funny stuff started, I was out of there. The singing was long. However, I was desperate so I endured. Then the preaching started and for the first time in my life, I was hearing truth. Like the starving cat, I kept going back.

The day came when I needed to make a commitment, should I stay or go back to the old way? I was afraid. The old way was familiar; could I give it up for the unfamiliar? I wasn’t sure. I desperately wanted someone to take away the pain and heal my wounds, someone to love and care for me.

Still fearful, I made that commitment. I confessed my sins and accepted Christ’s forgiveness. It isn’t always easy. There were times of doubt and fear. However, the years have passed and like Sneakin’, I continue to give over more of my trust, a little at a time, hesitantly. My life has changed, it has purpose and is filled with peace and joy.

Moreover, I was given another gift, it didn’t come wrapped in pretty colored paper; it was wrapped in the pain and suffering of the Cross and handed to me in love, with nail pierced hands. The precious gift of eternal life.

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise...but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

2 Peter 3:9 NKJV