February 15, 2012 by Steve Hogg 2 comments

Posted in: Personal Growth

For Valentine’s Day, Monieca and I ate dinner at Outback…the prime rib was really good. When we got home, our two outdoor cats (we live in the country) reminded me of an important lesson in life. Now I know you might think that’s silly, but let me explain.

One of my fondest memories is from our early days in Rock Hill. I would go home and as I approached the door I would hear feet running inside the house. It was our son, Steven, running to meet “dad” and I loved that sound.

But life happened to us the way does for everyone else. Years pass and kids become teenagers. They stop running to meet you. More time passes and they leave for college. Then they get married and permanently move out…you hope. In any case, the sound of running feet is a pleasant memory from the past.

Now back to the cats. When we pulled into our drive way, those cats came running down the sidewalk to greet us. Maybe they were hoping we would feed them, but I like to think they were glad to see us. Watching those cats, I heard in my memory the sound of those little feet from years ago and remembered what God says in the Ecclesiastes 3:1-2:

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven –    A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.”

In other words, life has its seasons and things change. That is ok…that is as it should be.

Yet it is sometimes difficult for us to be ok with all this change. I think part of the problem may be that we often get our identity from the trappings associated with each of those seasons. Thus change creates confusion about who we are.

So who are we? As believers, we are followers of Christ. Who we are in Him should define us and how we approach each season of life. While the outward trappings of each season can bring us happiness, true peace and joy come from who we are in Christ. Thus when we move from one season of life to another, our peace and joy can remain.

I sense that we often lose ourselves, not in Christ, but in all the trappings of life. Perhaps we would do well to remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:25:

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it;  but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." 

It is my prayer that you enjoy each season of your life and all that God gives you in each of those seasons. It is my greater prayer that your identity is found Christ our Lord, not in the trappings of life.

Those silly cats reminded me that my life has changed a lot in 20 years. However the one constant has been Jesus and it is Him that I have life and purpose.

Pastor Steve Hogg

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