About two weeks ago I was driving through my neighborhood. As I came around the final bend in the road before my house, I saw the strangest thing...A man was walking a cat on a leash... AND his pet duckling! Instinctively I pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed my blackberry to get a good shot of it. After taking a picture I pulled back onto the road and continued on my way home.

Now certainly there are stranger things to see than a man walking his cat and his duck...but not many. I have seen clowns in their full regalia driving in their cars to work, I have seen a man walking on his hands down the sidewalk, and unfortunately (eewwwww) I have seen a man driving in a convertible vigorously brushing his teeth into a gross foamy froth at a red light behind me...but I had never seen a man walking his cat and his duck before.

What makes it most strange is that they are natural enemies. Cats like to eat ducklings...ducklings typically waddle quickly away from cats...but there they were, each following their Master -  walking calmly together.

In the bible we see Gentiles of every kind and Hebrews walking along the same paths...we read about Jonah going to Nineveh and Jesus talking openly at a well with a Samaritan woman. If you knew the cultural taboos of these pairings, you would gasp at the thought. But as I considered more and more deeply what I had seen, God revealed this simple truth; the cat and the duck were not focused on each other, they were focused on their Master! I have heard many sermons on the subject of the body of Christ and how it brings together all types of enemies through the love of  Jesus, but here, in an ever so powerful way, was an image that spoke volumes about how we should all get along. The three unlikely friends were a living  breathing parable, plopped down strategically in front of me to ponder.

I began to wonder how many times God gives us these images. How many times we drive by busily talking on our phones, or speed by too quickly to even notice who is walking on the road. How many times has God tried to speak a truth into our hearts by giving us a simple image -  a boiled down poetic explanation of His truth - but we are too busy to notice it.

I am the kind of person who sees living parables everyday (if you read my last post about the car window - or you know me, you will see what I mean) People often tell me that my little stories of how I see God working in every day things really go straight to their hearts. Well folks...what I am saying here is that they are not MY stories...please get this clear, all glory goes to God the Father, the maker of the heavens and the earth... the one who cared enough to send his son Jesus to put voice to His truth in powerful little scenarios that we call parables. Every day you can take just about anything that you see and understand a little more about the truth of God. In scripture it says that creation itself makes these truths obvious.

"They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God." - Romans 1:19-20

Do you see that there is NO wiggle room in that statement...there is NO excuse for not knowing God. If you challenge yourself to look around you...to stop and drink in what is happening right in front of you, I am confident that you will start to see, as I do, stories unfold before you that speak of the truth of God and his kingdom.

When you walk with the primary purpose of following your Master, you will walk in peace and love. It will not matter who is walking right beside you (even if the world tells you that they are your enemy) In God's kingdom, we are all able to walk along the road together, as long as we are following Him.

Our focus today in America appears to primarily be on either ourselves, or our neighbor. Unfortunately instead of loving our neighbor we are busy coveting what they have,  hating who they are, or treating them like enemies. Gods word says we are to even love our enemies.

"You have heard the laws says 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true children of your father in heaven." - Matthew 5:43-45

Today I challenge you to look around and really listen to what God is telling you. You don't have to go anywhere special, just take a walk through your own neighborhood. Give loving those around you a try...neighbors...enemies...it will be your heart that benefits from choosing love over hate.


"