"Green"
Dad pointed to the cattle,
And this is what he’d say,
Son, you’re seeing money,
That someone soon will pay.
To him it was all business,
He was a cattleman,
Didn’t care to cowboy,
Just wasn’t in his plan.
And, yes, he sorted cattle,
And doctored with the best,
Sometimes he’d do it horseback,
But he loved that even less.
But I was ruined the minute,
They set me on a horse,
Never did get over it,
Still ride today, of course.
But back to Dad and money,
He always thought in green,
Maybe not the way I say,
But that’s the way it seemed.
He’d have me at the stockyards,
Guessing weights each auctioned head,
When I’d rather be out playing,
On the back catwalks instead.
He’d buy yearlings in the autumn,
A thousand bulls or more,
And we’d cut and brand and worm ‘em,
Then turned ‘em out for sure.
And everything was weight gain,
And the profit went with rate,
And how much was the death loss,
And I could hardly wait,
Till we penned ‘em a year later,
And roped the wildest, see,
And shipped ‘em mostly westward,
To feed lots where they’d be,
Fed and then to slaughter,
And finally to your plate,
It was the cattle business,
And Dad was never late.
Many years have come and gone,
Dad and Mom both died,
The ranch and all his holdings,
Were sold, debts satisfied.
But when I’m driving down the road,
And see cattle standing there,
In pastures green and grassy,
Whether bulls or steers or pairs,
I think of all the money,
It takes to make things go,
How hard it is to make it,
And most folks do not know,
That when they see the cattle,
What they see is money, too,
And, Lord knows, takes a lot of it,
It’s what Dad always knew.
I don’t let it bother me,
That all of that is gone,
Remember what the Bible says,
It’s there and is not wrong.
Says if you gain the whole world,
But lose your very soul,
Where is all the profit,
Lost to what you can’t control.
Rather seek the Kingdom,
First above it all,
And He will add just what we need,
If on His name we call.
For God, He is a cowman,
There on a thousand hills,
The main thing is to know Him,
And do all that He wills.
“…And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Mark 8:36, NLT)
Striving for material success has its place, no matter what business employs you. And the Bible does not teach that making money is wrong, only that loving money is the root of all kinds of evil. Anything can become idolatrous if we do not keep the correct spiritual priority. That’s what Jesus was describing in this passage. If you fail to make an intentional surrender of you life to God, you put your own soul at risk. And even if you have abundant financial success, it’s possible to eternally lose your soul int he process. Jesus’ point was that this should never happen. Seek Him. Take up your cross. Surrender control. Then trust Him to bless your efforts and give you the success you need.
Lord, help us deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow You, in Jesus’ name.
Art by Mark Maggiori, markmaggiori.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.