The Mitchell ranch, in Vale, Oregon, is full of interesting landmarks. Some are products of nature and others are man-made. One place that I remember well was a cabin in a little valley. It was called Eddie’s Cabin. It was often referred to as a point of reference when telling a story or giving directions because everyone knew where it was.
Eddie’s Cabin was a small rectangular structure that was about 12 feet wide by 18 to 20 feet long. It had two broken windows, one on each side of the cabin. You could see right through the baseball-sized knot holes and gaps in the 1 x 12 old siding that covered the entire outside of the framework. There were remnants of an old picket fence and gate that had been broken down by cattle and relentless storms over the years.
The eastern section of the ranch was about 15,000 acres. To begin a “gather” required that you ride past Eddie’s Cabin on the way out and, after pushing cattle all day, you would drive them back by in the late afternoon. Once past Eddie’s Cabin, the herd was headed north and there was only a short drive down through the meadow into the holding field called the hub. The cattle would remain in that hub awaiting vaccinations and branding until the other three sections were gathered.
At dinner time when all the stories and personal experiences were told about the gather and drive of the day, Eddie’s Cabin was always brought up. One evening I asked the ranch owner why it was called Eddie’s Cabin. He said he “didn’t really know, but it had been called that for the 20 years that he had been on that lease, and that maybe someone named Eddie had lived there.”
I had ridden by Eddie’s Cabin many times without stopping to take a look, so I decided to stop by there the next morning. Arriving at the cabin early, I tied my horse to a tree out in the front and headed through the front door that was no longer on its hinges. Inside I saw an old metal bed frame and spring, part of a shelf, and a hole in the roof where the wood stovepipe had gone through. Paper and old cans and trash were lying everywhere. Scraps of old newspaper that had been tacked to the walls for insulation were lying all over the floor. There really wasn’t much to see, but as I turned to leave I saw written above the door in charcoal, “Eddie don’t live here no more.”
I don’t know who had written it but now I knew why it was called Eddie’s Cabin, and that someone named Eddie had lived there a long time ago.
It reminded me of what it’s like when someone decides to surrender their life to Jesus. “Old things pass away and all things become new. We become a new creation in Christ Jesus.” Slowly that old nature begins to leave and a new life begins to awaken inside. Unlike Eddie’s Cabin with all the squaller, Jesus begins to clean us up on the inside, even though the outside structure may look the same. He fills us with hope, light and love. Like the words in the old cabin, we can then say, “that old me don’t live there no more.”
Rope great, enjoy life and let the old pass away.
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