RIDIN' FOR THE BRAND



The bonus target was small and a fur piece away.  I took careful aim, started the squeeze on the trigger
and felt the recoil as the rifle fired.  As I swung the lever down and spun away from the firing line ending
the stage, I heard the satisfying “clink” as the bullet struck home.  As I walked past one of the counters I
could hear her say, “He hit it!”  She made no effort to mask her surprise.
I was not having a particularly good day of hitting what I was shooting at.  I needed that bonus.  It felt
good.  As I went through the motions at the unloading table I was reminded why I shoot cowboy action – it’
s just plain fun.
Bonuses are a good thing.  Even on a bad day they make us feel good.  On the days when I’m not at my
best, when I’m struggling with my shooting and not particularly a joy to be around, it’s nice to be reminded
of all the fun I’m having.
Sometimes we just have the need to take a little inventory and assess the good things in our life.  Cowboy
is one of the good things, but even better than the game are the friends on the posse.  On my bad day
they were all working to help me gain a little altitude.  Tomorrow it will be my time to help them.
John the Baptist broke upon the Galilean scene shouting, “repent the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  He
was a hard man of the desert, dressed in animal skins and eating locusts and wild honey.  Some people
believed, some were amused, and some turned away.  The simple truth is that this John was right – the
kingdom was “at hand.”  Jesus was standing on the banks of the Jordan River.
The Christian views the trials of daily living differently than the non-Christian.  Trials are not simply
obstacles to be overcome.  They are not just traps put there to ruin our day. The trials we face are God’s
way of leading us toward greater and stronger faith.  It is the trials that remind us of the good things in our
life and of their source.
John said the kingdom was “at hand.”  His audience looked toward Rome and laughed.  The Romans
ruled the civilized world with an iron hand.  No wild man of the desert was going to have much impact on
that rule.  They listened and were amused.  Today’s non-Christians are equally short-sighted since they
see only the things of this world.  The non-Christian is not interested in the things of God.
Most Christians read of the kingdom and think of future rewards, Armageddon, and the judgment throne
of God.  When we limit our understanding of the Scripture’s use of “kingdom” we are as wrong as those
listening to John the Baptist.  Simply stated, the kingdom of God is the rule of God.  If the Son of God is
present in our life, the evidence is found in our obedience to His teaching.  When Scripture is silent or
unclear we follow the dictates of our conscience through the influence of the Holy Spirit, always living
within His Kingdom.  God’s rule as past tense, describes His rule yesterday; as present tense, His rule in
our lives today; and as future tense, His physical rule when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on
this earth.
All of God’s promises to His children are packaged the same way, past, present, and future.  We
remember His grace and praise Him, we walk in the sure knowledge of His love and we look forward to
the absolute fulfillment of His promises.  That is the hope that guides the Christian walk, even when we
can’t hit what we aim at.  God’s grace is the bonus.  We may be as guilty as sin, yet because of His grace
we are viewed as not guilty, as though we have not sinned, are not sin, and will not sin.  Don’t be misled,
God is not fooled.  He knows us even better than we know ourselves.  The reason He lavishes us with
abundant grace is the very reason for Calvary.  It was God’s love for us that took Jesus to Calvary.  It was
God’s love for us that raised Jesus from the dead, and it will be God’s love for us that will take us home.
We may not be able to hit what we aim at but this one thing we can be sure of – God never misses.

© Carl H. Lenz, 2007
BONUS