By George Watmough
In homey, grass root language the author becoming a surrendered Christian with that of breaking a horse
compares the process of
horse. How he fights the blindfold! We are to walk by faith and not by sight. We are told to acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He will direct our paths. If you have ever read a book on the life of David Livingstone you will recall how he tells of burying his dear wife in Africa—of planting a few wild flowers on her grave and watering them with his tears. Then he walked away from that grave, the most lonesome man in all the world, but with these words ringing in his heart: He leadeth me, 0 blessed thought! 0 words with heavenly com fort fraught! Whate’er I do, where’er I be, Still ’tis God’s ‘ hand that leadeth me. The Saddle Now comes the saddle, and the horse seems to sense that it will mean an end to the “ go as I please” life. The man in the saddle will guide, plan, and direct the horse’s life. And so the battle is on, and the cowboy puts in his claim for full surrender. The horse kicks, bucks, jumps, and bawls; but the boss is still in the sad dle. After the horse ‘ gets his second wind, he kicks, bucks, and jumps some more. Finally he surrenders to the boss in the saddle, and he is what the cowboy calls “ broken.” What did he break? Not a limb, or an organ, and certainly not his spirit. What, then? Nothing but his stubborn will. He must be made to know that the boss in his life is now in the saddle. 1 recall having lunch one day with the late Arthur I. Brown. He told me how the Lord spoke to him about a full-time surrender while he was a physician in Canada. “ I paced the floor of the hotel room for hours one night. Then I fell on my knees at the side of my bed and said, ‘Lord, make me willing to be willing.’ The battle was over.” It will be either a broken life or a barren one, for an unbroken will can frustrate God’s plan for your life. Broken, for Service The horse was just as much a horse before the rope, the blindfold, and the
saddle came into his life, but now he is broken for service. Some time later I see this same horse at the rodeo, and his master is trying for first prize. Now every thing depends upon a good, faithful horse as he starts down the field after the steer. The cowboy is up in the saddle with a rope in his hand. Now the saddle is easy, and the burden is light. The horse delights to do his master’s will. His one ambition is to please his master. Just as soon as the rope hits the steer the horse seems to know; he starts to dig in and hold back. He seems to know just what his master is trying to do and when to slacken the rope. Then the cowboy leaps from the saddle and ties the steer; and the horse stands there, knowing that he had a real part in the job. Shortly after I came to know the Lord as my Saviour, I was living on a ranch near Cortez, Colorado. One day I was sitting on the rail of a fence watching some cowboys across the road, when another cowboy came riding by. All at once he turned and jumped off his horse to visit with the other cowboys. I walked over and said to him, “ How did you ever turn that horse so sharp with only that hackamore around his nose?” He replied, “ I broke this horse when he was real young, and he knows what I want him to do by just a slap on the neck or just a word. When I throw the reins over his head, he considers himself tied and would stand there all day.” Then he said something that I shall never forget. “You know, there are some horses that are broken early in life, some late, and some never.” I walked away from that cowboy with those words ringing in my heart. I went behind the bam and .said to myself, “ Christians are so much like horses; some are broken early in life, some late, and some never. Oh, Lord, let my breaking come early in life. Let me be a ‘hackamore’ Christian, so that just the touch of Your hand or the sound of Your voice will be enough to let me know what You want me to do, and I’ll be ready and willing to do it.” e n d . From Good Newt Broadcaster, Lincoln, Nebr. THE KING'S BUSINESS
T he breaking of a horse and the breaking of a man’s will are anal ogous. Our text, Psalms 32:9, says, “ Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.” The horse is impetuous and rebel lious, and the mule is stubborn. The Word of God tells us not to be as a horse or a mule. We read in First Samuel 15:23 that “ rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Picture a corral filled with nervous, frightened, unbroken horses-—horses that have never had bits in their mouths or saddles on their backs, horses that have never been broken for service, horses that have roamed the range as they pleased. Until God took the reins of our lives we too had the “ stampede” na ture. We had all gone astray. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it—Prone to leave the God I love. The Rope There comes a day when the horse is to be broken. The first new thing to come into his life is the rope. Let us call it, in the life of a Christian, the rope of circumstance. In the Word we read: “ I drew them with cords . . . of love (Hos. 11:4); “Thou broughtest us into the net” (Psa. 66:11). “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3). Though there were times when the rope would burn, we can look back and say, “ Thank God for the rope, for it was a cord of love.” The Blindfold The next thing to come into the horse’s life is the blindfold. I have watched cowboys try to blindfold a
14
Made with FlippingBook HTML5