"Old School"

I’d like to point out something,

I hope that you don’t mind,

About the western way of life,

And truth that we can find.

Some think the cowboy lifestyle,

Is one great avenue,

To recover something old school,

That once folks always knew.

And that’s the cowboy ethic,

That folks seem hungry for,

Judging by how they react,

When it’s cowboy to the core.

Such as when you say it,

It’s really what you do,

And you don’t break the promise,

But your word is always true.

Another part’s important,

You work for what you get,

Have no false entitlement,

Through a hand-out be all set.

A cowboy’s patriotic,

He’d never stoop and kneel,

When our anthem’s playing,

His loyalty is real.

He tips his hat to ladies,

Loves kids, respects old age,

Takes care of his horses,

Looks to the Bible page,

To get his daily wisdom,

Not what the TV shows,

Or pander to the pundits,

Or any one of those,

Who want to down this country,

With confusion and decay,

But stands for what is right and wrong,

Down to his dying day.

And underneath the ethic,

A hunger deeper still,

And that’s to know the Savior,

And with the Spirit fill.

We pray for all the cowboys,

And say long live their kind,

And pray for this country,

That we can seek and find,

A way that some still long for,

What was and still can be,

The cowboy way’s still pointing,

To the brave and to the free.

“…we do not use deception, nor do we distort God’s word…” (2 Corinthians 4:2, NIV)

Contemporary culture has grown more and more confused. Deception is rampant and God’s word is being distorted and/or ignored altogether. But things don’t change when we curse the darkness, but rather hold out the light. That’s why the cowboy way is so refreshing. It’s not that every cowboy lives a virtuous life or serves the Lord. But there is a foundational code that is generally recognized by which the western lifestyle is governed. And this is what has been lost in our country. There is no longer a sense of “public morality” or a general consensus on right and wrong. Literally almost anything goes, and the only celebrated virtue is tolerance for what individuals say and feel. But the biblical view is that there is a revelation of right and wrong given by a just and loving Creator who inspired the words of the Bible to guide us. According to scripture, the moral life flows from a personal, saving relationship given through Jesus Christ. If the cowboy way serves us well, that’s what it points to, and we pray God uses it.

Lord, help us to put aside deception and and allow the truth of Your Word to change our lives, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Jeff Gant, used by permission. Thanks, Jeff, and God bless you.