"Cowboy"

There’s cowboys from the northern states,

Talk faster than down here,

But some of them can top ‘em off,

You’d swear that they lived near.

The sunshine state has cowboys,

And all across the south,

From Caroline to Louisian,

And Bama, shut my mouth.

Course Texas has a lot of them,

From the Palo Duro down,

All the way to Matagorda,

Working far from town.

The ranches there are legend,

From Four Sixes to the King,

But the list seems endless,

It just beats everything.

Go further west and you’ll see,

All across those western states,

Colorado and Wyoming,

It’s far between those gates.

Utah and Nevada,

That old high desert dry,

Idaho and Arizona,

Takes lots of ground, no lie.

New Mexico, Great Basin,

Where no one ties one on,

Except in town on Saturday,

And when they’re havin’ fun.

And out in California,

Still the horsemen see,

Trying to make a bridle horse,

Vaquero strong they’ll be.

Punchers, crackers, drovers,

Some called buckaroo,

But no matter where they hail from,

It’s just ‘bout what they do.

And that’s about the bovine,

To which they give their care,

A-husbanding the livestock,

And horseback always there.

Reminds me of the real ones,

Who say they love the Savior,

They show they are authentic,

By their day to day behavior.

Matters little what you call ‘em,

It’s not about their name,

Or their affiliation,

‘Cause they aren’t all the same.

Except they don’t just talk it,

Or have the look or pose,

But actually they do the Word,

And Good Lord only knows,

He will bless the doers,

Who daily live what’s true,

It’s who they are and also,

What they by habit do.

So if you see a cowboy,

Don’t judge him by the hat,

But look at what he’s doing,

And that, my friend, is that.

And same way with us Christians,

Though we are saved by grace,

The faith that gets salvation,

Will fill with works the race.

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says…” (James 1:22, NLT)

Word-doers. That’s who we are. Yes, I know, not always. But in the basic, directional sense we have stopped doing our own will and are seeking to do His. We have chosen to deny ourselves and obey the Lord. We have stopped letting the word go in one ear and out the other, and have begun habitually applying it to our lives. That’s what being a disciple of Jesus is all about. Yes, it’s true that one cannot earn salvation or work hard enough to keep it. Both beginning and continuing the journey amounts to our dependence upon the grace of God and belief in Christ’s finished work. But James clearly points out that those who have received this grace will evidence its reality by acting on God’s word. In other words, real faith works, with no exceptions. That’s what real Christians do: they do the word. LIke real cowboys. They do cowboy stuff. So, let’s get on with doing it, shall we.

Lord, help us not just listen to Your word, but actually do it, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Don Weller, donweller.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Don, and God bless you.