The flea made its way through the cat’s fur, doing whatever fleas do, and causing Moses much itchiness. Moses applied the only remedy cats know—he sat down and scratched himself. The flea crouched low and hung on tightly as the cat pummeled his position with a rapidly scratching back foot. When the commotion ceased, the flea continued on his way, doing whatever fleas do. Moses is not able to reason his way to a more effective solution, so this flea-scratching routine happens again and again.

People are wise enough to know that if you want to avoid the itchiness of fleas, you have to do more than just scratch them. They understand that if you make the fleas go away, the itchiness will go away also. Yes, people are much smarter than cats—or are they?

“Tom” suffers much because of his hot temper. When he is provoked, he struggles mightily to suppress his angry reactions because he understands how foolish an angry man looks. “I guess my temper is my besetting sin,” he says with a sigh after yet another failure.

Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Tom can either continue scratching ineffectively at his anger symptoms, or he can turn to Christ and find rest in the real solution.  

“Mary’s” children often embarrass her by their undisciplined behavior. She scolds and pleads, but nothing seems to help. The Proverbs writer declared, “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest” (Proverbs 29:17). Mary can either continue to scratch ineffectively at the symptoms, or she can find rest by the use of loving, Biblical discipline.

God’s Word provides solutions for people’s problems. Without it, people are not much wiser than Moses the cat.

Hear the blessed Saviour calling the oppressed,
O ye heavy laden, come to me and rest.
—Charles P. Jones 

From “Paws on My Porch, by Gary Miller © 2015 TGS International, PO Box 355, Berlin, Ohio 44610 Used by permission