"Gone"

Why do you think he did it,

What everybody asked,

When they heard about it,

And their words ran out and past.

He was making real good money,

So that just cannot be,

Got along with everybody,

Not angry, don’t you see.

But seem like as of lately,

He was in his mind long gone,

Kept looking to the westward,

And I could be wrong,

But I noticed he got horseback,

More and more and more,

And acted liked he loved it,

It never made him sore.

Got so you never saw him,

Without a rope in hand,

Or maybe almost never,

He could toss a Houlihan.

And then one day it happened,

He just loaded up and went,

Like he was on some mission,

Upon which he was sent.

But when it comes down to it,

I think I know the why,

He’s off to be a cowboy,

Or give it his best try.

You needn’t try to stop him,

Would be a big mistake,

‘Cause he will keep on going,

Till a hand he’ll try to make.

It’s not about a hobby,

Or even the equine,

That makes a young man do this,

Or an older one sometime.

It’s closer to the feeling,

This is who he’s meant to be,

And when he makes his getaway,

It’s his true identity.

The doing flows from being,

We all believe it’s true,

And from his heart it’s flowing,

The cowboy way to do.

So, Lord, please bless the cowboy,

And show our place as well,

Cause if you’re hating what you’re doing,

It’s a special kind of hell.

“Put on your new nature, created to be like God- truly righteous and holy…” (Eph. 4:24)

The Bible teaches us we have two natures or identities that compete with each other. There is our old self, which motivates us to live an ungodly, disobedient life. Even after we give our lives to the Lord, that old nature is still with us. A decision needs to be made everyday to die to that old “self” and put on our new spiritual identity in Christ. This is our true, authentic, God-given identity empowered by the Holy Spirit. As in the poem, it’s a challenging thing to be something we are not. But the bottom-line is that we can become everything God wants us to be. When we are choosing against the old self and for the new self, God will open doors and make it clear to us how we are to spend our lives and what endeavors are worthy of our time and investment. Doing really does flow from being, and God has given us the power to make it so.

Lord, help us choose against the old self and for the new, in Jesus’ name.

Photo by Rob Walther, used by permission. Thanks, Rob, and God bless you.