Cow Lessons

Verse of the day: 1 Samuel 6:12, Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

It is amazing to me that God can use the most unusual circumstances to teach us such great lessons. He will even use our greatest enemy to teach us what obedience looks like and is supposed to be in our life and relationship with Him. Here, we read a portion of Scripture which involves a couple of ordinary cows. However, let us stop and consider what is taking place. We have two cows that have never been yoked together, working together, without a driver, other than God. These two cows are “lowing” as they went, meaning that they were sorrowful, likely because they were separated and forced to leave their calves behind. Nonetheless, we see them staying on the path that God had set before them. These cows demonstrated more dedication and wisdom than most of us as born again believers demonstrate in our relationship with Jesus. Isaiah 1:3 says, “The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” Animals, that most of us would consider to be nothing more than a source of dairy, or steak dinner, demonstrated a level of obedience and a recognition of who their real Master was than most of us do in our walk with God. In Matthew 10:37-39 Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” As followers of Jesus, we must be willing to serve God on His terms, and this means that there will be times when we have to step outside of our comfort zone. It means that we are going to have to make sacrifices that will seem painful at the time, and even turn from relationships that hinder our ability to effective go and serve wherever and however God lead us to serve Him. The things and relationships we hold onto here on earth will sometimes be the very things that will cause us to forfeit heavenly rewards. We must be willing to sometimes serve with other Christians, and actually do all we can to put aside frivolous differences and serve in love and peace. Jesus told us in John 13:35, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” I said earlier that God will even use our enemy to teach us what obedience to Him looks like. In Job, chapters one and two, God set boundaries for Satan to work within, in testing Job’s dedication to God. Amazingly, Satan never crossed the boundaries that God set. Yet we, who call ourselves Christians and claim to love Jesus, continually cross the boundaries God set for us in His Word, for our good and His glory. We lack the kind of obedience and dedication that honors God in our lives and demonstrates that He is not just Savior of our lives, but also Lord. In John 14:15 Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” This verse is more about love for God than obedience to His commandments; for if we truly love Him, we will live in obedience to His leading and His Word. The bottom line is that God can teach us a very valuable lesson about dedication and obedience, to Him, from a couple of faithful cows.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).