Thursday, July 2, 2020

Shade From The Heat

Summers in Texas get really hot. We typically see multiple days of triple digit temperatures. Native Texans have come to expect it. We know it is coming and we grit our teeth and endure it.

Much of my time is spend driving the Farm to Market roads between Runaway Bay and Weatherford. Most of the drive is through the country. I see multiple horse and cattle ranches. This week while driving home, something caught my eye. I have seen it before but never gave it much thought. I drove through the hottest part of the day and the cows were crowded under the shade of threes.

This did not happen on just one ranch. Once I noticed it, I saw the same thing the rest of the drive. God gave cows enough sense to find shade in the heat of the day. That got to me to thinking. Thinking about people seeking shade in a relationship[ with Jesus.

Psalm 121:5 (NKJV) 
 The LORD is your keeper; The LORDisyour shade at your right hand.


The word shade in that passage means two things. It means shadow. It also means defense. God is a shadow for those getting blistered by life like the blazing hot Texas sun. He is relief. A place to find refreshing and shelter. I do not know why more do not turn to Him. It bewilders me why some prefer to stay in the heat sweating out day after day.

Folks in the country are smart enough to park in the shade when they can find it. When they visit with others outside they try to find shade. For every person who will ever read this, Jesus is shade. Shade from the blazing hot furnace of eternal fire damnation. What do you have to do to step into the shade of eternal salvation. Believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. Confess with your mouth can call on the name of the Lord to be saved.

He is also our defense. I wondered while driving the other day how miserable it must be for those black cows absorbing all that heat. I also wondered if the light colored cows ever got sun burned. Most of us have experienced the misery of a sun burn from time t time. When we get out in the sun too long and it burned the skin. I used to see this every year when I preached a youth camp in Panama City, Florida. Those young kids did not heed the warnings about wearing sun screen. By the end of the week they were miserable. I have actually seen kids with huge blisters on their backs and shoulders. They did not heed the warnings and paid for it dearly.

Jesus is not only like shade. He is like sun screen. He provides a defense against the destructive effects and over exposure to things that could do us harm. I need the defense of Jesus. So do you. In this topsy turvy world where everything is awry, we all need Jesus. We need His defense in this world. We will certainly need it when we stand before the holy righteous Judge Jehovah.

Yes, God offers us shade. Relief in the shadows and defense. I'm thankful God drew my attention to a bunch of cows finding shade from the heat. I trust God will do the same for you today.

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