"Stockyard Cattle"

Jesus called the renegades,

And those fence-jumpers, too,

Might call ‘em stockyard cattle,

No pedigrees, it’s true.

He gathered all the crazies,

The neglected and abused,

The ones that you could buy dirt cheap,

Fact those are ones He used.

If you looked around His circle,

Prob’ly not a one you’d pick,

To go and change the whole, wide world,

‘Cause they couldn’t hit a lick.

But when His grace transformed them,

Filled with His Spirit strong,

The very misfits that He chose,

Showed He was never wrong.

A group of no-name nothings,

Without power, wealth, or fame,

Yet it proves to all who care,

The power of Jesus’ name.

And in His name they spread the Word,

To people far and near,

And even suffered, gave their lives,

So everyone could hear.

Yes, those old stockyard cattle,

Jesus fed and met their thirst,

And like the Good Book calls it,

The last with Him are first.

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong…” (1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV)

God is good at choosing people that others would not. Jesus gathered men and women who had significant moral and relational issues and transformed them by His grace. When Paul spread the Good News it was the same way. And so it goes…We are often surprised by the one He uses but we shouldn’t be. He proves over and over again that it seems to be His favorite method- to save, fill, and send someone whom others believe is inferior and use them in such a way that only He gets the glory. God always resists the proud, and this is one of the ways He does it- by using the foolish, the weak, the lowly, the despised, and the nothings. In this way He says to us, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” Amen.

Lord, help us to recognize how You use people whom we would never choose, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Ken Steinnerd, used by permission. Thanks, Ken, and God bless you.