What does a Dr. Seuss story have to do with the kingdom of God?
There’s no question that Dr. Seuss’ stories transformed the world, sharing creativity and values with families for decades that are worth passing along to their children. But what similarity does Seuss’ classic ‘The Cat in the Hat’ have to do with the kingdom of God?
Just as the child main characters in ‘The Cat in the Hat’ get into mischief with the cat in the hat while their mother is away in the story, so too have God’s children dug into our own humanity and followed our free will toward sin while our master, Jesus, is away.
“You can apply this to the very beginning of creation, it goes back to the Garden,” Rabbi Jonathan Cahn says.
Before God left Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He told them one thing not to do, which was to eat off of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yet, even though God gave them this command, the two disobeyed Him during His absence.
It is this very principle that both ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and the Bible expose; in our human nature, with our free will, we gravitate toward doing that which we know is wrong during our master’s absence. When the person in charge of us is gone, it is human nature to choose to do what is evil. It is in the time when the master is quiet, seemingly out of the picture, that we make our choice for either good or evil.
“You cannot choose heaven in heaven,” Cahn says. “You can only choose it now. That’s the only time you have a choice.”
Cahn says that biblical principle relates back to both what happened with the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai, and how it prophetically aligns with how the church is acting in our current times.
While Moses went up to Mount Sinai to be with God, the people became impatient and created a golden calf to worship in their leader’s absence. In the same way, ever since Jesus ascended to heaven, Christians have found themselves turning away from the truth of the gospel to follow after their own worldly desires and idols.
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The turning away from the truth of God’s Word is so prevalent in today’s world that we even see it from the pope himself.
“In the last few days, the pope called for a reinterpretation of the gospels and a new theology,” Cahn says. “based on, he said, ‘popular common sense…’ and often not corresponding to the Christian face of God.”
In the face of this turning away from good for evil, what can Christians do?
Those who love the Lord must stick close to His Word, remembering the parable of the master and the servants; it is our duty to stay on task because at any moment, our Master may return. The truth is, whether Jesus returns during your own lifetime or after, each of us will have a face-to-face moment with Him where we are held accountable to Him as the master and Lord of all. He will either reward each person as the faithful servant, or cast them out as wicked person whom He never knew. The choice for what we want to receive in our eternal life is dependent upon what we do here during this blink of a lifetime.
“You’ve got to be like Moses in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, Paul in Rome,” Cahn says. “You’ve got to become independent of the world…you cannot be a light to the world if you’re of the world.”
The signs of our ultimate Master’s return are all around us. The question is: will we choose to prepare for His return, or will we fall away to the whims of this world?
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
