Cow Paths
By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
Have you ever followed a cow path? Or maybe you have followed animal tracks in the forest. Maybe you have seen the narrow trails along the side of a hill that goats make as they traverse the landscape.
Growing up in Kansas, we often visited my grandparents’ cattle ranch. It was great fun to wander in the pasture —sometimes on foot and other times on horseback. I enjoyed following the paths worn down through the grassland by cattle patiently walking one after another. They would meander through the pasture, never in a perfectly straight line. You might wonder what made them turn this way or that. Was it a particularly good patch of grass? Maybe a nibble from a low-hanging branch?
One thing you learned, however, was that no matter how many twists and turns the path took, it always led to water. The trails led to the small creeks on the property or to the farm ponds scattered around it. Cattle know their way to water. They may roam all over the pasture, but eventually they find it, and their paths become well-worn routes that take them there.
Jeremiah 6:16 (NKJ) gives us a great admonition:
Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls…
This is not a call to simply do things the way they were done in the past. It is not an appeal to only sing hymns in church. In fact, it is not about church services at all. Instead, it is an appeal to daily make a path toward Jesus. Daily make a path toward Bible study, to read and listen to what God has in store for you each day.
Jesus was clear that He is the water of life. If we go to Him, we will be satisfied and our thirst quenched.
This is a daily need. Those paths lead to water every day. We may wander and get distracted by all sorts of things that look wonderful — and may even be wonderful — but to truly quench our thirst, we must follow the paths back to the water of life, Jesus Christ.
If you haven’t tried a daily walk with God, start with the Gospels. Read a small portion, ponder it, praise God for it, and listen for how it applies to your life.