I've Got To Give It Up

The day was drawing to its close on the ranch in one of our western states as my friend and I were driving some cattle to the corral by the weathered barn. It was nearing sundown for the old rancher. History had been written here. Across the ranch was the still-discernible course of the Oregon Trail and the ruts made by the wheels of thousands of wagons. But more recent history had been written in toil and hardship, and part of that was etched in the lines upon his weathered face and engraved in his memory.

He, and his young wife, had come west in the early part of this century, full of hope and determination, to "prove up" on a homestead in sparsely settled, wide-open, unfenced ranch country. Together, they had wrenched a living from the land, traded for a larger ranch, and still another - upgrading and moving on. In those many years they had also reared a large family of sons and daughters, all taught in the school of close discipline and hard work. Now, for years, all these were long gone from the family fireside, where married and "on their own."

There was more than a trace of sadness in the conversation as we walked toward the corral. He was saying, "I've worked hard all my life" - and I knew it was so, and his gnarled hands bore silent testimony. He continued, "Now I have flocks and herds and the ranch I wanted. I have good water rights on Wagon Hound Creek. I've worked a lifetime to get it all, but I can't take care of it any longer. I've got give it up."

And so it was. The end wasn't far away, and later when I conducted his funeral, I saw in all this a parable of life - not only his life, but yours and mine. We labor for a lifetime to gather a few things about us, and we call them ours, and then comes sunset, and we leave them all. We are, and ought to be, thankful for life's conveniences and comforts. We appreciate pleasant surroundings and feel an attachment to the place where we call home. Yet all of this is temporary, They are not the true riches. We are not owners, but stewards or custodians for a brief while. All earthly possessions are only "things."

Proverbs 23:5 states that matter in plain perspective, " For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven." As recorded in John 6:27, Jesus gives us sound advice, "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you.

" Previously published in the Gems of Truth by Herald and Banner Press,
Overland Park, Kansas http://www.heraldandbanner.com/