"Far"

I stood up in my stirrups,

And pitched my twine so far,

To catch that crazy heifer,

And you know how they are,

And she was ninety miles an hour,

Punching big holes in the wind,

And If I couldn’t catch her,

She would be gone again.

So I sailed it way on out there,

As ever far I could,

And the loop it neatly snagged her,

Just like I hoped it would.

I went down for my dally,

Feelin’ good about it all,

And man she hit another gear,

And almost left me, y’all.

My arm was stretched, my hand held on,

The tail end of that rope,

My pony gathered stride and ran,

And I began to hope,

That we could get ahead some slack,

And get that dally down,

And maybe we could turn her back,

‘Fore she escaped to town.

And that’s exactly how it went,

I got that hussy turned,

And in that moment I’ll admit,

I got a lesson learned.

Sometimes we chase what we should do,

But our chances flee away,

And if we do not fly real fast,

And get ‘em caught today,

Somehow they will just escape,

But this should never be,

We simply have to make a loop,

And dally down, you see.

God will help us catch ‘em,

If we let Him give us strength,

Go on and get that twine uncoiled,

And use up all its length.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, NIV)

There is a proactivity required of Christian disciples. We are encouraged by Jesus to ask, seek and knock. In this way we are not simply waiting for the spiritual lottery of God’s blessing to fall into our laps. Yes, I know, sometimes the blessings come and are so great they practically overwhelm us. But in more times than not we are positioned to receive God’s highest and best by calling upon Him, passionately and consistently. Asking, seeking and knocking gives God something to bless and provides an avenue of faith that God uses as His catalyst of blessing. Yes, all the glory goes to God. But we are called to proactively cooperate, and when we do, great things happen.

Lord, help us to ask, seek and knock, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Kirstie Lambert, used by permission. Thanks, Kirstie, and God bless you.