This last spring my wife Prissy and myself decided to get a horse. Prissy came to me one day and with a sweet smile and loving eyes and said, “I have always wanted a horse”. Unable to resist her alure, I relented. So the hunt began and soon we found the perfect horse. So we readied the pasture, repaired the fencing and tried to kill the blackberry bushes that was taking over the grass. After several weeks went by it was time to bring Dollie the dapple gray mare home. Oh did I mention, Prissy had worked a deal with the Seller to purchase Ace, a beautiful Buckskin gelding so that Dollie didn’t get lonely.
There was lots of excitement at the farm that day. It was sort of like bringing home a new born. The family gathered and the horses finally arrived. The gate flung open and in went the horses. They ran like the wind as we watched like spectators. We were so pleased with our new pets . They were magnificent and powerful.
Over the next week, we learned how to water and feed them, twice a day. My job was to turn on the water, fill the bucket half way and pour it into the trough. No problem I got this. But then on Friday, Prissy said that we must brush them and clean their hooves. I said, “Ok I guess”. But that meant we had to go through the gate and into the pasture. Now Dollie is a gentle giant, but she stands almost 16.5 hands high. That’s huge! And Ace is almost 15.5 hands tall. That’s a lot of horse.
So we opened the gate armed with our brushes and bridles. And here came Dollie and Ace running to greet us. With eyes wide open and my heartbeat at a standstill we met our new friends. Something magical happened that day. I went from some guy with a bucket to a friend of a horse. Soon the horses knew me and our relationship grew. Today I look forward to walking through those gates. It is a place where I can love on my horse friends.
Loving Jesus is the same way. We can watch as spectators behind the fence or we can open the gate and get our hands dirty. On the other side of the fence it’s safe. That’s where most people stay. They go to Church, find a pew and never really experience all that Christ has in store for them. They are good people. They show up every Sunday, give their tithe and go home. But to fully taste His Goodness you have to walk into the pasture and be in His presence. You have to surrender to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to be in control.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
To know Him is to love him. To truly love Jesus you must serve Him. That means Seeking the lost, feeding the poor, comforting those who morn and praising Him in the Storm.
Love is something that you give. Love is something that you do. Love is Jesus. Won’t you join us in the pasture and begin that relationship with Him today?
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5
