Round up

This may sound pretty random, but it’s all part of my renewed effort to open my spiritual eyes and ears and listen to what God’s saying to me. So this morning as I waited on him to speak, I didn’t hear anything but I did see the fences of a western-style corral. I didn’t see what was in the corral, just the fences on the corral. Then, galloping into view rode a cowboy on a horse, whirling a lasso over his head. He whirled it and whirled it, and then he let it slide down his arm and stop. He didn’t throw it.

Then I heard God. ‘You’re doing a lot of whirling the lasso without risking throwing it and bringing folk in!’ ‘How do I throw it, Lord?’ ‘Steady yourself in me. If you throw out words which aren’t coming from me, you’ll be off-balance and your throw will fall to the ground. You may get hurt; the other person may get hurt. You have to be absolutely secure, grounded in me.’

I think it must take a lot of practice to successfully throw a lasso while riding full-pelt on a horse. It’s taking a life time for me to get the hang of sharing the good news in a way that is relevant to my friends and others, so they are ‘caught’ by Jesus. Maybe I need to be more securely seated in the Word of God, and be more intentional in my conversations.

I’m thinking of Paul’s claim that he would become all things to all men so that he might win some to Christ. Successfully ‘lassoing’ someone for Jesus is as much about knowing the other person’s needs, fears, desires, hurts, so that the lasso can be tailored to pull them in gently, as it is about being securely seated in Jesus.

I’ve got a lot to practice.