"Look Where I'm Pointing"

We sat there on our horses,

It was just my Dad and me,

He was pointing to the thicket,

To try and help me see,

An old steer, just a renegade,

That hid from us last fall,

And now Dad finally found him,

Least that’s what I recall.

He was a cross-bred brindle,

In the shadows hard to see,

Look right where I’m pointing,

Where Dad said he would be.

I’ll admit I had some trouble,

That I hated to admit,

I couldn’t see that bovine,

But was sure I wouldn’t quit.

If Dad said he was standing there,

Then that’s right where he was,

I strained my eyes and finally,

I saw that steer because,

I looked where Dad kept pointing,

I looked because he said,

And then we went and got him,

Right where his tracks had led.

Fast forward to another time,

On the slopes so steep and high,

On the edge of that Great Basin,

‘Neath Idaho’s broad sky.

We sat there on our horses,

My good friend, John, and me,

He said, you see those cattle,

I looked and tried to see.

But, no, I didn’t see ‘em,

And said so to my friend,

He said, look where I’m pointing,

And I squinted and begin,

To see these little dots of black,

Far across that distant plain,

Turned out they were the cattle,

The ones for which we came.

And, yes, I went and got ‘em,

Gathered others, too, just fine,

Pushed ‘em through a water trap,

Got home by suppertime.

God stood up in His stirrups,

And clearly said to me,

Look there, you see those people,

They are supposed to be,

Here with me, but they wandered,

I want you to bring ‘em back,

Look yonder where I’m pointin’,

You’ll help ‘em get on track.

And I hate to admit it,

But I pretended not to see,

I was just too busy,

For those pointed out to me.

But you know how the Lord is,

He pointed more than once,

Son, look where I am pointin’,

Stop acting like a dunce.

So I trotted up and found ‘em,

Brought ‘em back just like He said,

And now I’ve done it many times,

Where e’er the Spirit led.

Look where I am pointing,

You’ll always find ‘em there,

The harvest is there waiting,

And we just have to care.

“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18, NAS)

All those who have been found by God are called to help find others. Those reconciled have been given the ministry of reconciliation. No one advertises to those in need better than those whose need has been met. God makes His appeal through us by the Spirit and we are His ambassadors, partners in the ongoing gathering of the lost. The reason we have not died and gone on to heaven is because there is someone else we are called to take with us.

Lord, help us to look where You are pointing, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tyler Crow, used by permission. Thanks, Tyler, and God bless you.