Cat Poop & Cocoa Puffs

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Several months ago my little boy came flying into our dining room flailing his arms, wagging his tongue, and mumbling something I couldn’t make out but I knew it wasn’t good. He collapsed to the ground and continued rambling inaudibly while on the verge of what was sure to be a complete meltdown.

I picked him up and yelled somewhat apprehensively, “What happened?!”

His response: “I just ate poop!”
Me: “What?!”
Him: “I just ate poop.”
Me: “What?!”
The conversation continued like this as I hoped I was hearing wrong or perhaps that he would change his story.

Nope.

It turns out he didn’t really eat it, but he did put it in his mouth and spit it out faster than the Cubs can give up a lead in the ninth inning! So, how did this happen? What looked like a stray Cocoa Puff on the floor was actually a little round ball of dried fecal matter that had fallen off one of our cats. Yep, a dangling dingleberry took on the form of chocolate and became a story I will oneday use to blackmail him with.

It looked good. It didn’t taste good.

My son learned three things that day:

  1. Just because something looks good doesn’t mean it is good.
  2. Don’t eat anything off the floor…ever.
  3. Cats are of the devil.

I’m kidding about #3 but we can all learn from lesson number one: Just because something looks good doesn’t mean it is good. The very first sin in history was the result of Adam and Eve desiring something that looked good.

The woman (Eve) was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. -Genesis 3:6 (NLT)

It wasn’t good, though. It separated them from God, brought death, and ultimately affected mankind.

Just because something looks good doesn’t mean it is good.
Just because something sounds true doesn’t mean it is true.
Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you should do it.

We live in a day where absolutely everything is saturated with social media so if we’re not careful we can assume something is good or true simply because of the amount of “likes” it generates via Facebook. In fact, this tweet by Andy Bannister sums this up perfectly:

“A million ignorant assertions, even magnified by a billion retweets and likes, do not add up to truth or wisdom, right or good.” @AndyBannister
If the Bible calls something bad, but the majority calls it good, guess what? It’s bad.
If the Bible calls something true, but social media calls it false, guess what? It’s true.
If the Bible calls something sin, but Facebook-Land says it’s not sin, guess what? It’s sin.
The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”  -Flannery O’Connor

We either believe the Bible or we don’t.

You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant. -2 Timothy 4:3-5 (MSG)

Just because something looks like a Cocoa Puff doesn’t mean it is a Cocoa Puff. #DontEatPoop

Published by chucketate

Author (#41WillCome - August 2016 - Tyndale House) and Founding/Lead Pastor of RockChurch in East Peoria, Illinois.

7 Thoughts

  3. Reblogged this on AntiPerish and commented:
    Great illustration about how all that glitters isn’t gold. Just because it sounds good, doesn’t mean it is good! “but test everything; hold fast what is good” ~ 1 Thess 5:21 (ESV)

    Reply

  4. This is just so great! A deep truth wrapped in a nasty kid moment… Love the hashtag at the end…. So profoundly true!!!

    Reply

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