"Round-up"

I set the posts and stretched the wire,

And then I hung the gates,

I mowed the pasture, filled the troughs,

Then thought I’d set and wait.

I thought that some old cattle,

Would find their way to me,

Got more than one gate open,

So surely they can see.

I waited and I waited, 

It seemed forever long,

Allowed this y’all come strategy,

Might just be all wrong.

You think I’m talkin’ crazy,

And, yes, you got it right,

‘Cause there won’t be any cattle,

Thought I wait both day and night.

But that’s how church folk do it,

Each Sunday, here we are,

Just come on down and find us,

Just jump right in your car.

All the gates are open,

And we’ve got lots of feed,

And if you care to ask Him,

God will meet your need.

But folks, right in the Good Book,

Jesus made it plain,

That ‘less we go and get ‘em,

They won’t call on His name.

So get in on this round-up,

And step up in the saddle,

Jesus is the cow-boss,

Who says go get the cattle.

Or if you want the Bible,

He calls ‘em His lost sheep,

But point is He is sending,

And will His promise keep,

To always be there with us,

And on this gather go,

And He will send the Spirit,

To lead us, this we know.

No matter that the pasture,

May look and be just right,

Unless we do the round-up,

They’ll never see the light.

Whoop and spur, my brother,

And bring a big herd home,

And we’ll rejoice together,

And they will no more roam.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt. 28:19, NIV)

Jesus commissioned His disciples to go out and spiritually reproduce. The fruit of their ministry would be changed lives that they impacted wherever they went. Theirs was a proactive mission that depended upon the leadership and power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish. This intentional seeking out of the lost has changed fairly dramatically since the Christian movement began. It has devolved from soul-seeking and soul-wining to trying to get people to attend and join an institution. Rather than go to them, we expect them to come to us. And the result is impaired. It’s not that no one’s life is changed. Thank God that still happens! But sometimes it happens in spite of rather than because of. God calls us to go!

Lord, help us go and make disciples, just as You commissioned us to do, in Jesus’ name.

Art by JaNeil Anderson, janeilanderson.com. Used by permission. Thanks, JaNeil, and God bless you.