We Are Prone to Wander

March 30, 2025

When I was growing up, we had quite a collection of critters, from Sarge the Mutt to Smokey the Dachshund. There also seemed to always be a cat or two or four in the equation. One of our many cats was named Patches. He was black, white, and all tomcat. I remember a couple of things about Patches. The first memory was the day my mom loaded up herself and all three of us kids into the Le Sabre Buick for an errand run. When her kids were in the car, Mom closed the back door. Closed is too kind of a word because my mom actually slammed the door pretty hard, catching Patches’ tail in the door in the process! Put this image into your brain because it has been in mine all these years. The door has not only caught the cat’s tail, but it has caught the cat’s tail so tightly that both of Patches’ back feet are off the ground. Patches is hanging out the locked back door by his tail, screaming bloody murder. When Mom slammed the door, the doors locked, so she couldn’t just open the door and free Patches. On this particular day, Mom was carrying a purse big enough to haul an extra transmission for the car. Her purse was full of stuff and of course, the car keys had managed to work their way to the bottom of her purse. So, with Patches hissing, spitting, and caterwauling at the top of his lungs, Mom finally found the keys, unlocked the door, and freed Patches, who, after being freed, ran over and smacked one of our other cats like his misery was the other cat’s fault. The second thing I remember about Patches relates to the fact that Patches was a tomcat and would wander off quite often, doing what tomcats do. One time, Patches wandered off and didn’t come back. He was gone long enough for us all to think he had gone on to that Great Litter Box in the sky when one Sunday morning, several weeks later, there was Patches! He was dirty, disheveled, and looked like he had been run through the washing machine, but at long last, Patches was home. It turns out that even though he had wandered no telling how far away, Patches knew where home was, and knowing where home is, is our destination for today. As Christ followers, most of us have a little “tomcat” in us. We tend to wander away from home, doing what “tomcats” (or Prodigals) do. The hymn writer, Robert Robinson, put it this way in his hymn ‘O Thou Fount of Every Blessing’….“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love.” A major part of our walk with Christ is learning not to wander. Another thing to keep in mind while we are walking is this. Be like Patches and know where home is. For Christ followers, home is with Jesus.

Be blessed and be a blessing . . . Bro Andy