I would like to introduce you to Peeka. (Not, Peeta, you Hunger Games fanatic.) Peeka is a beloved pet goat belonging to Dena Jones. Dena, who is an entrepreneurial veterinary technician, works as a professional pet-sitter. With the help of her husband Sam, Dena owns and operates the wildly successful business, Happy at Home Pets. (They are fantastic and affordable and you can find them here: http://www.happyathomepets.biz)
Dena is infused with the love of animals, and she houses a veritable zoo of animal-friends at her home. She rescues strays, nurses the injured back to health, and builds shelters for the untamed. When she is not at home, she is visiting and caring for the animal friends of others (refer to shameless plug, above). Her Facebook posts are filled with pictures and stories of her pets and rescues, but my favorite stories are the ones that involve Peeka the goat.
Peeka has a mischievous spirit, which I suspect is typical of a goat. When Dena and Sam are working on projects around the house, Peeka gets in the way. Peeka can often be found sitting or standing atop Dena's car. In fact, Dena and Sam finally stopped popping the dents out, as it was weakening the metal.
Dena has several running Facebook posts about 'Peeka antics'. Here are a few:
Who would keep such a misfit of a pet? Funny thing is that Peeka the goat has a priceless and rare gift. Peeka is an ambassador. She is able to tame the wild. Many of the feral cats Dena encounters require medical attention, but they are unapproachable and afraid of people. Peeka somehow befriends the wild cats on Dena's property, and slowly over time Dena is also able to approach them and provide the aid they need. Seriously, what are the chances that a savior of wild animals would happen to have an animal-ambassador? It seems well-purposed.
As Christians, our job is to befriend the wild ones of the earth and ease the approach to their Savior who is feared, but who also loves them and knows what they need.
I have previously blogged about my so-called 'spiritual gift': I have the gift of looking for and seeing the Divine in the secular. I embrace the redemption songs of Linkin Park, and welcome the fellowship and self-sacrifice shown in the Harry Potter series. I have experienced the discipline and brokenness of a long run. The Church frowns on the distorted truths depicted in the media; they are not Biblical. However, there are nuggets of resonant Truth therein, and if Truth is truly absolute, then it can be found outside our walls and our scriptures. (Granted, we must hold up the truths against what we know to be Truth from scripture. Contrarily, we discount the Holy Spirit that works within us when we limit Truth to that found only in scripture.)
I see value in using Truth to reach the lost. To many, the Bible may seem mysterious or distant, but they can relate to the Truth they see sprinkled everywhere around them. An ambassador can discern Truth from falsehood and help make a way. Like a goat who leads a wild cat to safety.
I always felt goats got a bad rap in the Bible. The sheep are clearly the chosen flock of God, with Jesus as our great Shepherd. Even today, goats are often depicted as a pagan deity, accursed in popular movies. Then there is the passage in Matthew “He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left...then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons." (Matthew 25 NLT)
I left out a crucial part of the passage: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ (Matthew 25:34-36 NLT)
There are times I feel like the goat, and not the sheep. Like Peeka, I can be exasperating and frustrating to others, and occasionally downright destructive. But God has given me this so-called 'gift', and I will use it to reach out and ambassador to others.
Maybe whether I am a goat or a sheep doesn't really matter. Am I an ambassador and servant of God? And although the world (and sometimes even the Church) may see me as a goat, through His eyes, I'm a cherished lamb of His herd.
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NIV)
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT)
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