The lion, the tiger, even the domestic pussycat shares the same feline attributes.
They aren’t the same.
In Igboland where I come from, we hail the tiger as the token of bravery. And whoever kills the tiger receives the title “Ogbuagu” a traditional honour for valour and bravery.
But the Tiger is not the lion. The lion is the “Odum” in Igboland and is famed as the ruler of the jungle. Its fearsome moan and scary roars confirm its credentials as the supreme ruler of the wild.
And the cat, to whom I pledge my friendliness, for its abiding loyalty as the man of the house. My father owned a colony of cats.
You will only celebrate the bravery of the cat within the boundaries of the Homefront as time and again he lays at the feet of his master, one after another, its booties of dead rats, in its show of domestic bravery. But the cat in all of these is not the tiger or the lion.
They all have their unique glory and fair share of territorial authority.
For that reason, the cat won’t dare to snatch off the lion’s prey or contest the battle turf with the tiger, despite their shared similarities.
David emergence as the chosen king of Israel by God would never dimmish the fact that his own siblings by right had personal qualities that set them apart as unique champions in their own rights.
Just knowing where you belong will save you the tormenting mental agony of questioning the rationale in God choosing David as the anointed king of Israel.
In many ways its difficult sometimes for friends and relatives to accept the face that perhaps God has for reasons best known to Him chose you to represent a cause. He made you a leader amongst the lot.
He brought you forward in the gleeful arena of battle and gave you the armour to slay goliath and your fame spread like a wildfire and finally you were the one to sit on the throne of the nation of Israel. It sounds like a sick joke that of all the persons in the family of Jesse, only David met God’s tally for appointment as king.
The rest is history. David reigned and died as King of Israel after 4o years of battle-soaked rulership.
I found peace in the joy of being whom God has made me to be. And it has proved the best cure for frustration, jealousy or bitterness.
For the cat is certainly not going to attempt the feat of gong after the gazelle for a meal in a show of suicidal bravery, nor would I like to charge into the battle to face goliath just to spite David’s historic feat of slaying the giant.
How I love the cat for keeping to the rules of the game. To serve the need of the house and to keep it free of rats. Neither jealous of the famed bravery of the lion nor the prowess of the tiger.
All of us have a unique glory that will shine in the hall of eternity if only we live like champions even in our little corners. 1st Corinthians 15: 41.
