"Old Trails"

The concrete and the asphalt,

Covers trails where cattle trod,

From south Texas plumb to Kansas,

With cowboys on the prod.

But the wind blows dusty hoofprints,

From the trails that still are there,

And some still try to follow,

To show that they still care.

‘Bout when time moved a-horseback,

Took weeks and months and years,

Now we measure by the minute,

A few seconds, then shift gears.

Frantic, frenzied, hurried,

But far slower then than now,

And that is just one aspect,

Of what was done and how.

Still the slow trails call us,

To travel them once more,

And those who do will understand,

Just what the travel’s for.

And that’s to learn the value,

Of the cowboy way and call,

And what we should return to,

To help prevent the fall,

Of all we know is worthy,

Hard work and freedom, too,

Faith in God’s Word only,

Trustworthy, tried and true.

Dusty hoof-prints disappearing,

But still they aren’t too faint,

To saddle up and follow,

Both the sinners and the saints.

And when we do we listen,

To the Spirit’s wind-born voice,

Who says to all who hear Him,

That we have a choice,

To choose what’s wise and righteous,

Choose truth above all lies,

And trust in God to help us,

The best in us to rise.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing , so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13, NAS)

Our secular culture is hopeless and offers little hope to anyone. The best way to get excited about the future is to revisit the past. Why? Because it was not so very long ago that there was a strong public morality based upon a consensus about what is right and wrong. And that code of ethics was based on what the Bible says. Going back to that trail makes the future trail brighter than ever.

Lord, help us receive yesterday’s wisdom, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Don Dane, used by permission. Thanks, Don, and God bless you.