I have neighbors that are cows.
They live one house down from me.
I say hello to them often.
They just look at me.
I sometimes wonder what they think as they see my car pass by.
Now, I think we have an understanding.
I roll my window down a little and say, ‘Hi Cows!’
They’re used to me now, I think.
With animals, things can happen.
Another cow once came for a visit but he was not my neighbor’s cow.
He just stood there, nearby wanting to get into see the other cows.
Maybe because he was a bull.
He had other motives.
He refused to leave and his owner had to come and take him home.
This morning, we had a short freezing rain storm.
There was thick freezing rain all over the windshield and the house and the road.
It was all over everything.
I had to go to work anyway.
So, I got to my cow neighbor’s pasture and there was a baby laying on its side.
It couldn’t get up. The mom was licking it and its legs were floundering.
The freezing rain was still drizzling and the baby was struggling.
I did see the baby stand, but I called the owner anyway.
He was glad I did because the baby had gotten a chill
and he had to warm her with a heater.
She was born just moments before I saw her.
All turned out well and the baby was sleeping on dry hay
when he checked on her later.
My neighbor does not know Jesus.
He has his thoughts of who He is, but Jesus is not important to him.
We have talked about the gospel before and I cannot say he rejected Jesus,
but he does have his own thoughts and is not quite open to different ones.
This reminded me to pray for him.
Here he is living his only life, a decent life, a good life,
that God is out there somewhere,
and my neighbor thinks he does not mean much to God.
He’s just a man, doing his best,
being kind and doing the right thing most of the time.
That is really what many people think of their lives.
They just believe it is enough to be good and honest
and work hard and be nice and help others.
Most people do not understand their need for a savior.
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things! Romans 10:15
Who sends the preachers? Who prospers our way in preaching the gospel?
None other than the Holy Spirit.
We can’t quite understand how or why He does,
but we know we need Him to go before us,
to prepare the way, to bless our efforts.
We know the Holy Spirit is the One who leads us and guides us and opens doors.
We must pray for our own efforts in the Lord, otherwise,
we might continue to have our words fall on rocky soil and deaf ears.
What if I had prayed more for my neighbor?
What if his heart had been prepared by the Lord when I had talked to him?
The results might’ve been different.
Let us be reminded to pray for all of those people we have in our life.
Not to leave one of them out and ask only for our own needs
or only those we love and care about.
God cares about each and every human more than we can comprehend.
If we pray that God prepares the way and blesses our efforts
and helps us to plant seeds that will cling to the soil, flourish, grow and bear fruit, our neighbors will have a better chance to receive the gospel.
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6