Now that the Holidays are upon us, we are all familiar with the problem of eating too much too quickly.

Our cat, Lucifer, suffers from this problem several times a week.

He and our cat, Angel, start pestering me every morning before I’m even out of bed.

Then, they pester me on my way downstairs to give them chewable treats that we nickname “Mouse” and Mousie”.

Indeed, sometimes they stand right in front of me, blocking my way to their food. And they wonder why it takes me so long to give them what they want!

Angel gets “Mouse” because her chewable treats are given to her in a plastic mouse toy that gradually releases treats as she chases and whacks it.

Lucifer gets “Mousie”.

For some reason, Lucifer refuses to play with the plastic mouse to get his treats the way Angel does. Most likely, he’s just too lazy.

Once Angel finishes playing and working to get her Mouse, she goes off to enjoy her day.

But not Lucifer.

He immediately starts begging for soft cat food. Not most flavors. It must be some kind of fish. Turkey, in particular, makes him gag and puke immediately.

Even if he likes the flavor of his soft cat food, I’ve learned that I must make him wait at least an hour for his soft cat food after he eats Mousie.

Otherwise, I soon hear him gagging.  He pukes his food in a neat pile on the floor or the kitchen counter! A disgusting mess I must clean up.

We switched him from normal soft cat food to a pate. He virtually always puked his normal soft cat food. In contrast, the pate has a fighting chance to stay down.

Nevertheless, even with a 1-hour delay and a pate, he often pukes.

We aren’t sure why.

Our two best theories are that he simply has a narrow throat, making him gag if he eats fast.

Our other theory is that he licks Angel’s long white hair, giving him fur balls that gag him.

Of course, both causes could co-exist, reinforcing each other.

Whenever I ponder my dilemma of how best to feed Lucifer, I realize that God faces similar problems getting us to eat the food he gives us—his Word. (Matthew 16:5-12; John 6:25-59).

Jesus talked about this problem in his Parable of the Sower.

Sometimes, we simply don’t want to eat some of his words. We turn away and close our eyes, ears and hearts to the words we don’t like. (Matthew 13:4,14-15,19).

What kinds of words don’t we want to eat? What words of Jesus make us gag?

Don’t store up for ourselves treasures on earth. Don’t love money! If we do, we will despise God. For we cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:19,24).

Forgive others. (Matthew 6:12,14-15).

Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:38-45).

Take the planks out of your own eyes. (Matthew 7:1-5).

Touch “lepers” to heal them. (Matthew 8:2-3).

In contrast, we love some of the treats Jesus gives us. At least at first! These are words that taste sweet in the mouth, but turn sour in the belly. (Revelation 10:10).

We fall away from the Way of Jesus when we realize that following these words of Jesus faithfully will cause us troubles and persecutions.

What kinds of words stir up troubles and persecutions? What kinds of words take some time to sink in before we understand their full implications for our lives? (Matthew 8:18-22).

“Come, follow me, . . . and I will make you fishers of people.” (Matthew 4:18-20).

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

“A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” (Matthew 13:53-58)

“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”(Matthew 16:26).

Sometimes, we can’t “digest” the words of Jesus.

Perhaps our “throat” is too narrowed by worries to receive all of the good things Jesus wants to give us. (Matthew 13:22).

Perhaps our stomach is too full of “fur”—such as the deceitfulness of wealth—to contain all of the good things Jesus wants to give us. (Matthew 13:22).

Whatever the specific circumstances, we must learn to wait until the timing of God’s answers to our prayers—to our begging for “cat food”—is right for us to see, hear and understand.

In God’s good time and in God’s good way, he’ll give us the best words and experiences so that his words accomplish what he desires and achieve the purposes for which he gave us our “cat food”.

If we learn to wait for God’s good timing. (Isaiah 40:31).

If we learn to live in God’s good way. (Isaiah 55:6-9).

Then we will not puke up the words of the LORD. (Isaiah 55:11).

Instead, we will be led out in joy and be led forth in peace. (Isaiah 55:12).

And the LORD will not have to clean up a mess that we create!

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For my thoughts sparked by our dog Toto, please read my blog “Toto Begging for Food”.

For my thoughts sparked by our cat Bootsey, please read my blog “The Star of Bethlehem Was a ‘Can of Tuna Fish’”.

For my thoughts sparked by my grandson’s hamster, Gram, please read my blog “I Love You, Gram. Bye!”.