Grandpa’s farm! What a fun place to visit during summer vacation! The children would feed the chickens; Grandpa would butcher them and Grandma would fry them - yummy! And the children loved to play with Grandpa’s dog. Although she was part German Shepherd and part wolf, Schatzi was so gentle that she would even let the children sit on her. How the children had looked forward to the visit!
Matthew and Nathaniel did not know it yet, but there was also a snow-white cat prowling around Grandpa’s farm. It moved quietly around the yard staying out of sight, so no one had seen it yet. Its fur was so beautiful that it must have been someone’s favorite pet, well-fed and well-loved. Its owner probably petted its pure white fur and said, “Nice kitty.” But no one knew what it was doing late at night when no one was looking.
Then one day Matthew and Nathaniel heard Schatzi whimpering. Schatzi! Beloved Schatzi—what was wrong?
“Grandpa, whatever is the matter with Schatzi?” asked Matthew.
“Oh nothing,” said Grandpa. “She’ll be all right.”
Suddenly everything wasn’t all right. Schatzi grabbed a furry white animal with her teeth and the animal fought back. Everyone thought Schatzi had caught a rabbit. The fight didn’t last long, and then Schatzi brought the furry animal and laid it at Grandpa’s feet. They were all startled to see it wasn’t a rabbit. It was a white cat!
What had happened to Schatzi? Had gentle Schatzi suddenly turned wild? After all, she was part wolf! Everyone started to scold their favorite dog.
“Don’t go too near her,” the boys’ father warned.
But Grandpa wasn’t worried. He knew what had happened. He had not told anyone yet, but something had been hurting his chickens. He always put the ones that Grandma would cook the next day in a crate, but for the past few mornings, Grandpa had found that the chickens’ throats had been scratched and some of the wings had been ripped off. This had happened for three nights in a row. Schatzi must have known it too. And it was no mystery to her what animal was hurting the chickens. Sure enough, the next night the chickens were unharmed. Schatzi had fixed the problem. It had been the white cat.
The cat looked very beautiful on the outside, but at night it had been secretly trying to kill chickens. Have you ever stopped to think that some boys and girls are like that bad cat? Perhaps even you yourself look quite nice on the outside. And maybe most people even think that you are a kind Christian boy or girl. But if you have never had your sins washed away in the precious blood of Christ, you are like that white cat - pretty on the outside but full of sin on the inside.
“The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:77But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)). This Bible verse warns that God can see right down into your heart and see what you are on the inside. Even if you carry a Bible in your hand and go to Sunday school, God knows if you are still stained by sins of lying, unkindness and disobedience to your parents. But God also loves you very much, so much that He has provided a way that your sins can be washed away: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)).
When Schatzi killed the cat, that was the end of it, but God has made you different from a cat. You have a soul that will live forever - in either heaven or hell. The Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)). Matthew and Nathaniel thought that Schatzi was too kind and gentle to ever kill a cat, but when she found a cat trying to kill Grandpa’s chickens, she attacked it. Some people say that God is too loving to put anyone into hell, but God is also holy and He must punish sin. But He also offers a free pardon for all who trust in the Lord Jesus as their substitute for the punishment they deserve. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Be warned, boys and girls, by this story of the beautiful white cat. Even if everyone else thinks you are a nice person, God looks right down into your heart. Come to the Lord Jesus today and He will make your heart as white as snow. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:1818Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)).
ML-05/30/1999