The Safety of Home

The first sounds of the morning were soft moo's from a direction not normally heard.  It brought me to wide awake in a hurry.  Sure enough some of the cows had found a way to roam on the wrong side of the fence.  A sack of feed lured them back in the pasture and then came the work of repairing the fence.  After a couple of hours, shoulders aching from dancing with post hole diggers, putting down new post, stretching the wire, and a shirt full of sweat the job was done and it was time for breakfast.    

If Jesus had lived in cow country instead of a land where sheep grazed, He would not have been short of parables to tell about them.  Inside the pasture those cows have a safe place to live, grass for grazing, and a caretaker who looks after their interest and provides whatever they need.  Yet, they still will wander off to another place from time to time.   

It sounds all too familiar when we consider our own human predicament.  The safest place for any of us to live is inside the plan and the care of God.  He provides for us.  Even in hard times He is working to bring about good in our  lives.  His way is the best way for us; yet, we still decide to graze on the other side of the fence now and again.  Actually, too much.  But, fortunately, even more than I was this morning, He is always ready to do whatever it takes to bring us back to the safety of home.