Kitty’s Trip To The Vet

Kitty, our partially blind cat, became unwell yesterday.  I could tell something was wrong by her behavior: lethargy, frequent urination, lack of appetite; but of course, I couldn’t see what was going on inside her body.  I needed help.  I needed the vet’s expertise.

Therefore, I loaded her up and took her to the vet where both my mother and I work.  An ultrasound and blood work were done which concluded that Kitty has a urinary tract infection.  She was given antibiotics and meds for pain.  I feel certain that in a few days Kitty will be back to good health.

Kitty needed medical assistance.  She had to go to the vets to get it.  As I was thinking about this, it came to me that, just as things can go wrong in our physical worlds, things also go wrong in our spiritual worlds.  We need help.  We need expert assistance.  We need church.  At times, when our spiritual hearts get hurt and confused by the issues of this world, we need cleansing and guidance, explanation and direction.  We need help from our spiritual family.  We cannot always diagnose ourselves.

I have heard it said by some that they, “don’t need church because they can worship God wherever they are.”  Yes, of course we can all worship God wherever we are, and indeed, we should, but to worship is only one part of meeting together with other believers.  We need each other to share one another’s burdens, to pray for those who are weary and down trodden, to encourage those who are disheartened and hurting.  We need to meet together to hear God’s Word explained to us in order that we may make proper application of God’s principles in our lives.

Just as Kitty was sick and needed expert help in her physical world, you and I become  weakened by the diseases of darkness that lurks all around us.  We need expert help to strengthen and guide us.  That’s why God made us a part of one body that needs each other. We are told in I Corinthians 12:26-27, “If one part (of the body) suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.  All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”

I’m so thankful for doctors who assist us with our medical needs; I’m thankful, too, for our pastors and churches, who assist us with our spiritual needs.  We were made to need each other so that we may be lifted up and encouraged.  At times we all need guidance along our journey.  We need to pray for others and to be held up in prayer ourselves.  None of us are merely a piece of a body which is separate from the body.  Instead, we are each a piece of the body that makes us all a part of the whole body of Christ.

There are multitudes of people around the world who don’t have the opportunity to freely go  to church.  Many of our brothers and sisters are greatly persecuted for merely attending such a meeting.  It’s a privilege that is still available to us in the western world.  Let’s not abuse something so necessary and free to use for our own good as well as for the good of others.

Oh, what joy to give to the body of Christ, and what comfort to receive from the body of Christ, when we are weakened and burdened.