I was recently invited to a branding up in northern California. It was on a large old ranch that had been running cattle for over 100 years. We gathered a small field bringing in about 350 pair. After separating the calves from the mothers, we ran all the mother cows through two narrow lanes that led to a squeeze chute at the end. We were able to vaccinate 10 cows at a time in the lanes. Working the cows was easy and went smoothly.
We brought the calves into a large round pen in groups of 25. Four teams heading and heeling the calves brought them to the ground crew to vaccinate, ear tag and put fresh brands on them. It took some adjusting to rope these calves and stay out of the way of the other teams. The fresh brands looked great when the calves were let up. The brand identified them with the owner of the ranch.
I’ve branded for other ranches and bought cows of my own that had been branded before. To be legal, every time a cow is bought by a new owner he puts his iron on them. I’ve seen some with several brands on them. Sometimes there are so many brands on them you can’t find a place to put your brand. Nevertheless, they need to be rebranded in order to be properly identified.
Lately, I’ve seen Christians branded by the liberal media and other groups as homophobes, bigots, racists, narrow minded and intolerant. Many of these accusations have truth to them. The term Christian is ambiguous at best. Many people call themselves Christians who have no idea as to what it means to be one. In fact the Bible only mentions the word Christian three times. The term believer or disciple is more appropriate. In the Bible, John 13:35, Jesus said “all people will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.”
To be able to love people the way Jesus commanded us to, requires that we invite Him into our lives. We don’t have the capacity to love people like that on our own. By inviting Him into our lives we become a disciple of His. We follow Him and study His word and through prayer let Him take new ownership of our lives. A daily surrender to Him will cause change within. New ownership also requires a new brand! Check the brand you are riding for. Is it His or is it mixed up with many? The true test is found in “love for one another,” even those you don’t agree with! Thank you for your letters and prayer requests: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.