"A-Horseback"

A cutter smooth as butter,

Or a racer ‘round the cans,

A fast cruise, no lose rope horse,

A cowboy understands,

Just what it takes without mistakes,

To get the job done right,

To be on track when you’re a-horseback,

Transcends the pretty sight,

Becomes a dance, and art perchance,

With accomplishment the goal,

Whether in the pen or out there when,

The prairies endless roll.

Might just be, a gather, see,

To move some pairs along,

Or heel and drag a loop to snag,

That smokin,’ brandin,’ throng.

Or quietly check for fences’ wreck,

The wire to keep it tight,

Then trot on in when night begins,

And you run out of light.

The horseback days with golden haze,

Will never be forgot,

By those who went and their time spent,

In a walk or lope or trot.

I still can, and it’s my plan,

To ride until I die,

The Good Lord knows, and till He shows,

A-horseback is my try.

“What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.” (James 4:15, NLT)

All human plans and desires are subject to God’s highest and best for us. The Christian disciple has renounced self-government, so that everything is led by the Lord. And so as much as I love being horseback, that, too, is surrendered to Jesus. Because it is I am allowed to enjoy this pleasure. If it became idolatrous and I allowed it to divert my attention away from what matters most, it would be something to discard entirely. There are many things we can enjoy within the will of God. But we should never become pridefully pretentious about what we want to do.

Lord, Your will be done in our lives, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mark Maggiori, used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.