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The Cowboys Argue about Who Is the Top Hand

¹ The cowboys came up to Jesus and asked him, "Who is the top hand on the Boss's spread?"

² Jesus hollered for a little cowboy to come over there. He looked down at the small boy and ³ said, "Unless you can change and learn to have the same kind of faith and trust that this little cowboy does, you will never enter the Boss's ranch. ⁴ A little cowpoke like this completely depends on those who take care of him and that's what you must do.

⁵ "When you welcome a little child into your presence, you welcome me. ⁶ But I don't care who you are, if you make one of these kiddos lose their faith or their trust and cause them to sin, it would be better if you were killed by a pack of coyotes.

Jesus Warns Against Temptation

⁷ "This whole world is headin' straight for a cliff because of their sins. It's sure enough gonna happen, but I feel sorry for the man who causes one of my little cowboys to sin. ⁸ If something is causin' you to sin, you better get rid of it. I don't care if it means you have to cut off one of your hands or shoot your best horse, it's better to have eternal life without a hand and a horse than to ride straight to hell with both hands. ⁹ If you can't even control your own eyes from causin' you to do things the Boss wouldn't approve of, you best get a spoon and gouge 'em out. It's better for you to work for the Boss blind than to see the cliff you are headed for and the hell that awaits you.

Do Not Be Uppity

¹⁰ "Don't look down your nose at someone who has faith and trusts in me like a little child. ¹¹ You probably don't realize that these people have winged riders who look upon the face of the Boss every day.

¹² "Let me ask you this. If you had a hundred cows, but one of them was missing, wouldn't you go look for it? ¹³ Wouldn't you be happy when you came over the hill and saw it standing at the bottom? On the Boss's place, finding the one who wandered off is ¹⁴ what is important. He don't want a single one lost.

How to Handle Conflict with Other Cowboys

¹⁵ "If a cowboy who works for me does something to you that is against one of my rules (not yours), be a man and go talk to him about it. Let it be just between the two of you. Don't go round up all your buddies or even tell them what you're doin'. If he listens to you, y'all will be able to ride together. ¹⁶ If he won't listen to you, go ahead and take another cowboy along so that neither side will be able to accuse the other of something that was said. ¹⁷ If he still refuses to listen, take it to the men leadin' your crew. If he even refuses to listen to the cowboys I have chosen to be in charge of my outfit, just run him off. Treat him like you would a trespasser and get him off my place.

¹⁸ "Whatever that crew decides is what will happen. The Boss will back them up!

¹⁹ "I'm tellin' you the truth. If two of my cowboys truly seek my guidance and my way, whatever they decide on will be backed up by me. ²⁰ When two or more come to the campfire or anywhere else to be with me, I am there with them."

The Unforgiving Banker

²¹ Then Pete came up to Jesus and asked, "If a cowboy just keeps doing me wrong, how many times do I have to let it go? Seven times?"

²² Jesus replied, "No Pete, not seven times—every time!"

²³ "The Boss's place is like a rancher who had loaned money to some of his cowboys. ²⁴ He wanted to settle up the accounts before winter came on and he talked to a cowboy who owed him ten thousand dollars. ²⁵ The cowboy wasn't able to pay the money so the rancher told his foreman to go and get every horse the cowboy owned, his horse trailer, his saddle, and his truck and sell all of them so he could get his money back.

²⁶ "The cowboy got down on his knees and begged the rancher not to take everything he owned and told him that he would repay every dollar. ²⁷ The rancher felt kind of sorry for the cowboy and decided to cancel the whole debt.

²⁸ "When the cowboy left the headquarters, he ran into a fellow who owed him a hundred dollars. He reached out and grabbed the fellow by the throat and told him he had better pay him his hundred dollars.

²⁹ "The guy told him he didn't have the money right then, but that he would pay back every cent.

³⁰ "But the cowboy would have none of it. He went and took the only horse the man had and sold it for a hundred dollars. ³¹ Some other cowboys saw all of this and they went and told the rancher what had happened.

³² "The rancher called the cowboy in who had all his debt canceled and said, 'You are one sorry son of a gun! I canceled your whole debt of ten thousand dollars even though you had plenty of horses of your own and even a truck and a brand-new trailer. ³³ Then you went out and took a man's only horse from him because he owed you a hundred?!' ³⁴ The rancher then had the guy beaten until he could pay back every cent he owed the rancher.

³⁵ "This is how my Father will run things on his ranch for those who don't let things go when they themselves have been forgiven."