Cows

There’s a pasture directly across the street from my neighborhood with a herd of cattle constantly grazing. Like a postcard sits a beautiful barn, weathered fence posts, shade trees, two deep blue ponds, and grass that bends at the will of the wind.

I don’t know if you’ve ever watched cattle and their behavior, but for as far back as I can remember, I’ve felt bad for them. They always have their faces toward the ground. They aren’t spending their lives looking around, soaking it up, and enjoying everything that God has made for them. These cows have such a beautiful home. What kind of life is that? They’re missing out on all of it.  It occurred to me, maybe there is more to this than meets the eye.

My great uncle Theron was a cattle rancher in the small town of Idabel, Oklahoma. He had so many heads of cattle. The little bit of exposure that I’ve had to ranching is that all you have to do is call the cattle and they’ll come home. All my uncle had to do was honk the horn of his old pickup truck and they would come. They would come to their master.

With all this in mind, I now think that there are two ways to look at cows. They are either missing out because they’re not taking the time to enjoy the world, or they are focused on what God created them to do which is head down, being focused on the task at hand and being fed, and then when their master calls them, they come. They come to him. They’re living out their calling. Is it possible that even the creatures of the earth can hear His whisper? How often do we take the time to step back and observe the natural world around us and witness the hallelujah of birds singing in trees? What about bearing testament to the glory of a line of ants marching?

Let us be not focused on worldly pleasures but on His calling, His beautiful charge for our lives. Let us live fully and wholly in Him. Let us not waste our lives on things that have no true value. Let us make ready for the sound of His voice, so that we may know it and can run to Him unabashedly when He calls us home.

Now when I drive past the field, I see worship. How now, brown cow? I am thankful. I am present. I am listening.

1 Corinthians 7:17 – “Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them…”