Read the Bible

Planting Alfalfa

¹ Later on that afternoon, Jesus left the bunkhouse and rode down to the pens. ² There were a bunch of cowboys standing around waitin' on him. He climbed up on the pipe pens where everyone could see him and ³ he started tellin' stories like this one. "There was a big ranch that had their own farmin' operation. ⁴ They planted alfalfa and some of the seed fell on the two-track ranch road. Some blue quail came along and ate it right up. ⁵ Some other seed fell in a rocky area, ⁶ but them rocks acted like ovens and cooked the alfalfa right there on the stalk before it could grow very big. ⁷ Still other seed fell among a prickly pear cactus part of the pasture. That durn cactus choked it out 'fore it ever had a chance. ⁸ But some of that alfalfa seed fell on good, fertile soil. This seed produced about ten tons per acre. ⁹ Is anyone here catchin' what I'm sayin'?"

¹⁰ His cowboys came up to him and asked Jesus, "How come you just tell stories to people?"

¹¹ He nodded in understandin' and said, "You can understand these stories, but some cannot. These stories reveal the true nature of God's Green Pastures. ¹² Cowboys who are willin' to listen and try to understand the real meaning behind the stories will be trusted with secrets that others will not be. But those who won't listen, everything will be taken from 'em. ¹³ I tell these cowboy stories because they see what I do, but they don't really see anything at all. They're lookin', but they don't see. They hear the stories, but they're not even listening. They understand, but they don't savvy. ¹⁴ This is why the great cowboy Isaiah said, 'You hear, but you don't listen. You see, but you don't understand. ¹⁵ The hearts of the cowboys have become calloused. Their ears don't hear and their eyes don't see. Therefore, they can't ride with me and let me fix what ails them.'

¹⁶ "But the blindfold has been taken off of you and the plugs taken out of your ears. ¹⁷ I'm tellin' you, many a cowboy wished to see what you've seen and hear what you've heard, but they could not.

¹⁸ "Now let me tell you what the alfalfa story really means. ¹⁹ The seed that fell on the ranch road are like those cowboys who hear the good news, but they don't understand it. The Killer then comes and eats the seed away before it can grow in their hearts. ²⁰ The rocky ground is like those cowboys who hear the good news and take it home with them gladly. ²¹ But the first time it gets a little hot around the collar, they wilt. ²² The seed that fell in the cactus are like those who hear and accept the good news, but then they shove the message out of their lives with the cares of this world and the lure of money. ²³ The good soil is like those cowboys who really accept my words. These cowboys will produce tons of harvest for my sake."

The Registered Cattle and the Cull Bull

²⁴ Here's another cowboy story that Jesus told. "God's Green Pasture is like a rancher that had a herd of registered Angus cattle. ²⁵ But when the cows were all comin' into season, the Counterfeit came and put an old, mangy, ugly, part Holstein, part Watusi, part buffalo bull in the pasture with the registered herd. ²⁶ When calving time came, some of the cows produced fine, pure-bred Angus calves. But some cows produced an ugly, scrawny calf not worth nothing. ²⁷ The cowboys went and told the rancher that another bull must have got to the cows. ²⁸ 'That no-account Counterfeit must have done this to me!' the rancher said.

"'Do you want us to shoot the cross bred calves?' the cowboys asked.

²⁹ "He told them, 'No! You might hit one of the good calves. I've seen your shootin'. ³⁰ Let all of 'em grow up and we'll sort 'em out during shippin' season. That's when I'll tell the sorters to pen them up and burn 'em.'"

The Bull Seed

³¹ Here's another one of Jesus's tales. "God's Green Pasture is like the seed of a bull. ³² It's so small you can't even see it, but when it is planted in the right spot, it grows and becomes the biggest thing in the pasture one day. It is the protector of the herd and won't let anything harm those it looks after."

The Sourdough Starter

³³ Jesus told 'em this, "The Boss's ranch is like a sourdough starter used by the chuckwagon cook to make biscuits. Even though the starter is the smallest part, it works its way through the flour and other ingredients to make the biscuits what they were meant to be."

³⁴ Jesus constantly used stories like these when he talked to the cowboys and cowgirls. Truth be known, he never spoke to them in any other way. ³⁵ This was because many, many moons ago, it was said, "I will speak to you in cowboy stories. I will explain mysteries hidden since the beginnin' of time."

The Registered Cattle and Cull Bull Explained

³⁶ Jesus left the day workers outside and went into the bunkhouse with his cowboys. They sat down on the bunks and asked him to explain the story about the registered cattle and the cull bull.

³⁷ "All right," he said. "I am the registered bull that makes everything pure. ³⁸ The pasture where the cattle lived is like this old world we're living in right now. The pure-bred calves are like the cowboys who live for the Boss. The cull calves are people who follow the Counterfeit. ³⁹ The enemy who put the cull bull in the pasture is the Devil, or you might know him as Slick, or the Counterfeit one. Shippin' season is when this old world will end. The sorters will be the angels.

⁴⁰ "Just like the cull calves are sorted out and burned, so it will be in the end. ⁴¹ I will send my winged riders to take away anything in my pasture that is not pure and from me. ⁴² They will throw the culls into the brandin' fire and burn them up. On that day there will be a lot of bawlin' and pain. ⁴³ Then those who are pure because of me will shine like the noon-day sun. If you got ears, ya better listen close to this and understand!

The Unknown Oilfield

⁴⁴ "The Boss's ranch is like a cowboy finding oil comin' up out of the ground in an old useless pasture. In his excitement, the cowboy told no one and went and sold every single thing he owned and bought the property.

The Horse Trader

⁴⁵ "Again, the Boss's ranch is like a horse trader on the lookout for the best horse he could find. ⁴⁶ When he discovered the best filly he had ever seen, he sold all his trucks, trailers, and every horse he owned just to get this one.

The Prescribed Pasture Burn

⁴⁷ "Are you listening yet? Once again, the Boss's ranch is like cowboys gatherin' the cattle before a prescribed pasture burn. ⁴⁸ The cowboys only take the cattle that belong to the rancher and leave everything else. ⁴⁹ This is the way it will be at the end of the world. The winged riders will come down and gather everything that belongs to the Boss and leave everything else. ⁵⁰ Fire will be set to the pasture and everything left will burn. There will be no escape. ⁵¹ Do ya understand what I'm sayin'?"

"Yes sir! We sure enough do," the disciples said.

⁵² Then Jesus said, "Every teacher of the Law who starts ridin' for me is like a cowboy who teaches the old way, but isn't afraid to teach something new."

Jesus Rejected in His Hometown

⁵³ When Jesus had finished telling his tales, he left that part of the country and went back home. ⁵⁴ He returned to Nazareth and did some teachin' in the local church. Everyone kept wondering where he got such great understandin' and how he performed the miracles. ⁵⁵ They said, "He's just a cowboy's son. We know his whole family. ⁵⁶ His sisters live right here in town. What makes him think he's somethin' special?" ⁵⁷ They all got ticked off at Jesus and refused to believe a word he said.

Then Jesus told 'em, "A preacher is honored everywhere except his hometown and by everyone except his family."

⁵⁸ And so Jesus didn't do much around there like he did other places because they didn't believe in him.