6:57 AM
Rural America is pretty sweet. This morning at 6:25 or so I chanced to look out my front door, and I saw a cow placidly grazing in the front yard, meandering toward the peace of our typically (and surprisingly, given our rural location) busy road.
I immediately realized that the electric fence surrounding the field behind our house must be down somewhere, and running outside in my blue pajama pants with messed up half-Jimmy Neutron hair (tip of the hat to Lisa), I gave the cow a wide berth, ran out into the road, and closed in making ominous, menacing noises.
I'm altogether thankful that no one except for the cow (hereafter known as "73 the Cow" because of the red tag in her ear), Jesse the Cat (staring out the door) and Hershey the Dog (who now makes it a habit to break out of his pen every morning) saw me. I'm further thankful that animals can't laugh or communicate with humans (or carry cameras).
Half an hour later, as my father-in-law and I were putting the electric fence back in place while 73 the Cow stared absent-mindedly at us from her place back in the field, my father-in-law said, "Now that she's been out, she'll try to find another place to get out again."
It dawned on me that Hershey the Dog (a chocolate lab) already follows this procedure. A couple of weeks ago he discovered that he was strong enough to bend the chain link fence at the bottom of his pen at any place he chooses, so that he can push it aside and get out. I've succeeded only once in making reparations and implementing safeguards that lasted for more than a day in preventing him from doing this. Thankfully he's a homebody, just as I am, and doesn't wander anywhere.
"Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death." (James 1:14-15, NLT)
I know a sure way to begin to begin regularly faltering in your walk with Christ (why we'd want to do this, I have no idea): allow yourself to be enticed by sin and give in to it just one time.
The alternative would be that when you notice the gap in the proverbial electric fence, realize that you have a choice to stay in the safety of the field or get out and take a potentially painful stroll in the road, and then choose to stay in the field.
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Not my usual post, thought it needed a warning!
I was in Barnes & Noble the other day, and noticed something that ...
5 comments:
Let me just say, that's a sight I wish I would've seen! :) Seriously though, nice analogy to what we as Christians so many times seem to do...but I'm SO thankful that we have a Savior who accepts us back into the "field" every time we wander astray!
This was really good! I love the part about being thankful that the animals couldn't laugh at us or carry cameras! I'm especially glad that my four (or sometimes more depending on fosters) can't repeat what I say! :-/
Lori
I miss living by cows, which I did as kid in East San Jose of all places. Nice to find your blog.
To add another take on your proverbial electric fence - not only do we cause ourselves pain, but it usually causes those who are concerned about us to have pain as well (if you hadn't known whose cow it was, you would have probably gone back to bed, but knowing it was one of the cows from your father-in-law's field caused you to get involved in the rescue.)
I hinted at this in today's post, but I'd have run out to play cowpoke to 73 the Cow even if I didn't know her owner. I was afraid that there would be an accident. A car hitting a cow wouldn't be pleasant. At least, my imagination told me it wouldn't.
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