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The Bobcat and The Brush Pile
The Bobcat and The Brush Pile
My dogs spotted a gorgeous bobcat one day while we were out tending to the usual ranch work. They put on a good chase, but thankfully the cat made it to a brush pile in the center of the field. I had about 8-10 good ranch dogs that could tangle with most anything especially if they ganged up on it, but they couldn’t handle this kitty. Most of those dogs were bigger than the cat, but it didn’t matter. He had bigger claws and would have fought for his life. I was much younger, and kind of wanted to see how this would play out… So, I egged the dogs on to find the lil’ booger. I had heelers (Australian Cattle Dogs) and mountain curs (big-boned “hog dogs”), and a few good-size hienz-57 mutts. I knew they couldn’t handle the cat, but if they could flush him out of the hole, I would cut short the calf-killer’s days. I climbed to the top of the pile and looked down into it, hoping to spot my target without having a dog interfere. No luck. Finally, when the dogs cornered the bad ol’ putty tat, he jumped up from his hidden habitation and struck a blazing streak across the pasture. The dogs never got a chance to find out who could handle who, and I never got to end his calf-killing days.
There are some things in this life we think we want to catch. We think we can handle it when we catch it. Or, we think it won’t be a big deal when we catch it. Sin is a primary example of this. “It” is a furry, ferocious, fiery fit-causer. We think we’ve got it cornered just where we want it. We think we’ve got a handle on the situation. We think when we catch it, it won’t be a big deal. Sin fools you into thinking these things and so much more. It’s like bad paper work at a shady car dealership… Just when you sign the contract it shouts, “but wait there’s more!” Just when you climb onto the top log and poke your nose down into the brush, it reaches up with a cat scratch fever swipe and down you go.
You can’t pet sin. You can’t stroke sin’s fine fur and listen to it purr. You can’t think, “what a pretty thing,” “everyone talks about how dangerous you are, but you are just a precious little cuddle-box!” Nope! Sin is not your sister’s house cat. Sin isn’t going to use the litter box and chase the red dot. Sin is a hardened, trained, feline capable of fighting formidable foes much larger than itself. That, my friends is sin. Sin kills. Sin corners. Sin traps its prey. Sin seduces. Sin will kill you. Not only can that cat kill you, but because of your negligence and short-sightedness, it can kill those with you. Maybe you can skip out unscathed, but that doesn’t mean everyone else will.
If I had caught the cat that day, I would have been fine. But, I’m not sure Buddy, Roxy, Ammo, Sissy, Ebony, Izzy, Darla, or any of the others would have been. Don’t sacrifice others because you were dumb enough to climb into a brush-pile with a bobcat. Don’t climb into a pit with sin, because you may not climb back out, and if you do, you will have plenty of scars to prove it.
I do believe there are times when God providentially keeps us from finding the cat, perhaps even finding the brush pile. But then there are other times where He allows us to climb right into the brush with the cat because we were dumb enough to do it. Our adversary is a fit-causing feline and he’s just hoping you stick your nose in the brush. Don’t. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (I Pet. 5:8).
