Rancho Reality

Ridin for the Boss and the Brand, page 14

I heard this somewhere and it came back to me while I was writing this. It seems to fit. For Christians, Jesus is a stepping stone. For everyone else, He can be a stumbling block.

Rancho Reality

I expected to see the Marlboro man;
tall in the saddle, broad shouldered and tan.
I looked for Tom Selleck or someone like that
wearing chaps and spurs
and a big Stetson hat.
Instead, there’s a spindly old guy in a truck
who looks worn out and weary
and down on his luck.
I hoped for “The Duke”
ridin’ hard in his prime
not a grizzled old coot
who is long past his time.
But, this geezer explained
when you live on the land
the hard work will wear down
the heartiest man.
The shortage of water
and high price of hay
turns what hair you have left
to gunmetal grey.
I longed for the movie,
the myth and the dream
but reality’s different
and not nearly as clean.
There’s dust in my dinner plate,
sand in my shorts
and gooey stuff sprays
from my horse when it snorts.
The cattle are smelly,
my saddle is hard,
I got stuff on my boots
when I walked through the yard.
I wonder if God feels the same about me?
Disappointed I’m not everything I could be.
Do the things that I do
ever give God the blues?
Am I like the stuff
on the sole of his shoes?
What would God do in His infinite grace?
Oh, yeah, he sent Jesus to die in my place.

Christians believe there is only one way to eternal life and that is through faith in, and a personal relationship with, Jesus Christ. If there was another way, why would God have gone to all the trouble? It sounds simple, but churches are full of folks who acknowledge there is a creator and still refuse to believe, accept and submit to His plan for their eternal life. That plan centers on Jesus Christ; God’s Son who, as a man without sin, volunteered to pay the price for our sins. That price was death.

Jesus made it clear: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4: 12

If you don’t agree, you may be a lot of things, but Christian isn’t one of them.