Are You a Dog-Person or a Cat-Person?

He [God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  Matthew 5:45

Last week I dog-sat an English setter for a friend on vacation.  Higgins the dog was not a problem, although he didn’t want to eat much the first couple of days because his “mommy” was gone.  But he adjusted, regained his appetite, and did just fine the next couple of days.  I enjoyed taking him for a long sunny Sunday walk.

I like dogs, but I’m really a cat person.  Our family always had cats, and although we tried to have a dog several times, it never worked out. 

I must admit that I don’t like the smell of wet dog.  Others have similar complaints about litter box odors, which dogs won’t use, so you have to walk them rain or shine.  Dog owners say that getting this exercise is a benefit, not a draw-back.   I’m not convinced.  And you can’t cuddle a big dog in your lap like you can a kitty.  Yes, I know many love their small lap dogs, but I just can’t tolerate the tiny yappers.  At least hunting and guard dogs have purpose.

Some dog people say that cats have no purpose.  Well, my sister and her husband decided not to get a new kitty after their  18-year-old calico died last year.  Now they are overrun with mice.  Yuk!

The dog-sitting experience reminded me of the old joke – A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me… They must be Gods!
A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me… I must be a God!

In this sense, people are more like cats.  We want to be like God.  That was the basis for the temptation of our first parents:

. . .  the serpent said to the woman, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;. . . .  Genesis 3:4-7

Two thousand years ago, the  Apostle Paul wrote about this tendency to refuse to recognize God’s provision for us:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,so that men are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  Romans 1:20-23

Not much has changed.

So, what about you?  Are you a Dog-Person who recognizes that God provides for us?  Or are you a Cat-Person who wants to be god?

What difference does it make?  All the difference in the world — and in your life.

In the sentence just before Paul’s quote above, he says:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  Romans 1:18-19.