"Twilight"

There’s a cowboy in the twilight,

Who’s riding his last mount,

And soon he will unsaddle,

So many times, lost count,

But he’ll remember this one,

‘Cause it’s his last, you see,

He dreaded this would happen,

Or would ever come to be.

But the years gone past surprised him,

One day he woke up old,

Somehow it just escaped him,

And he was never told,

That his tired old body,

Would no longer be enough,

To fork a bronc and trot on out,

It would just be too derned tough.

The joints and muscles aching,

And the knees too stiff to bend,

His wrists and fingers hurting,

With little strength to spend.

So now he steps down slowly,

And pulls his cinches loose,

Slides the saddle downward,

And pulls off all four shoes.

He slips off that old halter,

His pony walks away,

Watches as he disappears,

Into the waning day.

Slowly walks back up the hill,

Pours himself a cup,

Somehow the sunset’s brighter,

As he sits there and looks up.

And now just what is happening,

The riders from the sun,

Are asking him to ride with them,

A horse that’s sure to run.

At first he doesn’t know them,

Then he sees the smiling face,

Of his old granddaddy,

And his heart is fllled with grace.

And there he sees his father,

Long since dead and gone,

But now he is a young man,

A cowboy with a song.

He looks down at his tired old hands,

Not weary anymore,

And for the first time in awhile,

He feels the pain no more.

Now he’s stepping in the saddle,

Roll back flying in the sky,

With Jesus right beside him,

And too much joy to cry.

Next day they found his body,

His hat and coffee cup,

He had a smile upon his face,

He lay there looking up.

But it was clear to all his pards,

That he had left and gone,

A-ridin’ for the Master’s brand,

In God’s range far and long.

Some day when your life’s over,

Remember this, my friend,

That if you know the Savior,

Your ride will never end.

“Because of His grace He made us right in His sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life…” (Titus 3:7, NLT)

Nothing can make us right with God but God Himself. And the way He has chosen to do it is through the sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. The clarity of this good news resounds throughout the scripture, and those who first experienced and proclaimed it, were convinced indeed. But the question remains, are we? The prevailing notion of popular culture is that it really doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere about it and it does no harm to others. But it doesn’t take an Einstein to see the insidious failing of this sophomoric notion. That’s because selfishness, the great sickness of the human soul, always does harm no matter its sincerity. And if we are tolerant of just anything, we will fall for everything and stand for nothing. God’s diagnosis and cure are found in Jesus alone, and Jesus alone with make us confident about our lives here and hereafter. Let us give thanks for it!

Lord, give us the confidence that we will inherit eternal life, in Jesus’ name.

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