"Gather"

Wish I knew why they do it,

Somehow to get away,

Lookin’ for escape routes,

On every gather day.

Led by a few crazies,

The herd will often scatter,

And if you are not ready,

All then that will matter,

Is if your horse is fast enough,

To head ‘em off and turn,

‘Cause they can sure ‘nuff get away,

You’ll be quick to learn.

But if you stay real steady,

And don’t be in a rush,

And if you want to holler,

Try to learn to hush,

You might just lose a few of them,

That you go back and rope,

Which in the end is better,

If you’re runnin’ thin on hope.

And I see there a lesson,

‘Bout times ago I ran,

When the Good Lord made His gather,

And was workin’ out His plan.

I ran just like a crazy,

I thought I’d get away,

When really what I should have done,

Was bow my head and pray.

Thank God the Lord is patient,

Never gave up on me,

Handy with His rope of love,

And chased me down, you see.

And at last He caught me,

Led me back on track,

Fed and took care of me,

Lifted burdens from my back.

So if you’re out there running,

It’s not too late for you,

If He can pen someone like me,

He can catch you, too.

“But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners…” (Romans 5:8, NLT)

Someone has said God does not love us when we get our lives together. He loves us so we can. Great wisdom! John Wesley used to talk about something called “prevenient grace.” This was the grace that pursues us before we are even aware of it. His point was that God was always taking the initiative to draw us into a realization of what He has done to save us. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. It’s all about God’s love working, persuading, convicting and and directing so that we will come to our senses and receive the grace Jesus died and was raised to give.

Lord, help us run toward You and never away from You, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tyler Crow, tylercrow.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Tyler, and God bless you.