"Ranch Work"

Dad said it wouldn’t kill us,

When we thought the labor would,

With fear and hope he filled us,

Best do just what we should.

When it was still dark-thirty,

We rose when air was cool,

‘Fore things got hard and dirty,

At least that was the rule.

No future In that bed, he’d say,

When awake there’s lots to do,

Come up, sleepy, that’s the way,

You know it’s good for you.

Sometimes the work was grueling,

Hay season long and hot,

And buddy, I ain’t fooling,

Took everything you’ve got,

To fight that heat and heavy,

To get it gathered in,

Before the rain could levee,

A loss, to our chagrin.

The fences needed mendin’,

Sometimes those steers escaped,

And then we were attendin’,

To how the day was shaped.

Hot horses would get lathered,

A-chasin’ wild bovine,

But we had to get ‘em gathered,

Using hard the old equine.

And all of this in service,

To the supper thus prepared,

It was the good beef versus,

Something less that must be shared.

But as long as people eat it,

There’s a product to produce,

And up till now we need it,

If you’re smart you can deduce,

That the cows give us the protein,

And the cowboys care for cows,

And that gives us the routine,

That the ranch life still allows.

So something changed along the way,

Even though Dad’s dead and gone,

We wouldn’t trade a single day,

To make it all go on.

And truth is that we love it,

And we’ll do it if we can,

No life can rise above it,

‘Cause it’s in our hearts and land.

So put some on the table,

And put a saddle on your horse,

Let’s do this while we’re able,

And with God’s help of course.

“Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, NLT)

It is in verses like these that we discover that there is something good and wholesome about hard work, especially that which is done physically, manually and personally. There is no place for a lazy Christian, which is simply the habit of resting before you do anything! As hard as it may be, there is great satisfaction in a job well done, and the Bible tells us will gain the respect of unbelievers. It gives a witness that God can bless. Get to it.

Lord, help us get to work, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tim Cox, used by permission. Thanks, Tim, and God bless you.