"Wild"

They often speak of cowboys,

As if they live so wild,

You’d think they are like Peter Pan,

A non-maturing child.

And I guess I’ve known some,

Who acted out that way,

Lord knows maybe I was one,

Back in my younger days.

But, see, I have to tell you,

The top hands that I know,

With very few exceptions,

They learned that they should grow,

From being wild and crazy,

To someone folks can trust,

And with the Good Lord helping,

He finds that it’s a must.

If he wants to have a woman,

Who loves him tried and true,

And if with her have children,

To show them what to do.

It’s not that he gets over,

The horseback life he loves,

It’s just that it gets better,

With God’s blessing from above.

And some stay off the grid somewhere,

And that’s all well and good,

But when he rides and does his work,

It’s all about manhood.

Being what he ought to be,

According to God’s plan,

Putting childish ways behind,

To become God’s own man.

So is a cowboy wild and free,

I still think it’s true,

Wild enough to love the life,

And do what God says do.

“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things…” (1 Corinthians 13:11, NLT)

This verse is found in what has come to be called the “love chapter” of the Bible. But this verse is the key to understanding what it’s all about. The guiding thought is spiritual maturity, as characterized by the unselfish love we show for others. There is a grand description of the love, and pretty quickly we realize that humanly speaking we will be challenged to ever love that way. But if we put our selfishness aside and grow up, the Lord will empower us to love. And that is the sign that we are actually growing. How? By the amount of love we show. Not how much we know or how gifted we are, but how well we love. It’s something to remember.

Lord, help us grow in our love for You and one another, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tyler Crow, tylercrow.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Tyler, and God bless you.