The news that seems to have caught the public’s imagination over the past few days is story of Lola the cat. I’m sure everyone is familiar with the details but just in case you have just returned from a holiday on Mars. It seems that after Lola the cat had been missing for some time, her owners heard her crying inside a Wheelie Bin. Once the unfortunate animal was released, her owners sought to answer the obvious question as to how she could have ended up in the bin. Since they had a CCTV camera which pointed at the front of their house, they set about going through the footage and the answer left them stunned.
The video showed a woman in her 40’s stop to stroke the cat which had jumped up onto a wall, she then carefully checked both ways to make sure that no one was looking, grabbed the cat by the scruff and threw her into the nearby Wheelie Bin. The video was then posted on the internet where it was picked up by the news outlets. This morning the video had been viewed on YouTube 354,808 times. The woman was of course tracked down and identified by “The Sun” as 45 year old bank worker Mary Bale. Last night there were angry crowds outside her house and she had received death threats from all over the world including Australia.
It is a very interesting story in many ways and there are many fascinating sides to it. The way that we treat animals, the way that we treat people for that matter, the level of surveillance by CCTV cameras, all give a tantalising glimpse into Britain in the early 21st century. The aspect of the story that has been exercising my mind in the last few hours is the way Mary Bale deliberately checked that no one was watching before she carried out her dastardly act. There can be little doubt that had there been a person nearby or had she spotted the camera the result would have been very different for poor Lola.
This was a horrible thing to do but how many of us would enjoy every detail of our lives viewed on YouTube? Yet the truth is we serve a God who does see everything and even knows our thoughts.
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)
That knowledge can be terrifying except for the fact that not only does God know all about us, he also loves us. In the verses that follow, the writer to the Hebrews states;
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)
We all need God’s grace in our lives, for hidden sin and for sin that everyone knows about. The good news is that the throne of the universe is a throne of grace and when we approach through Jesus we find grace to help us in our time of need.
Let us be real with God and with each other as we serve him in the days ahead.