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The Ten Single Gals

¹ "God's Green Pasture is like what happened one night when ten single gals went to meet a famous cowboy. ² They all took kerosene lanterns because they knew he would be arriving very late. Five of the girls were smart and five of the girls were dumb. ³ The dumb ones took their lanterns, but didn't take any extra oil. ⁴ The smart ones were prepared for the whole night.

⁵ "The cowboy was comin' from another ranch and would arrive very late. They waited on him all night to be the first to welcome him. ⁶ In the middle of the night, someone shouted, 'The cowboy is here! Come and say hello.'

⁷ "The girls got up and all had left their lanterns burning. ⁸ The dumb girls said to the others, 'Give us some of your oil. Our lanterns are going out and we won't be able to see.'

⁹ "The smart cowgirls said, 'There ain't enough for all of us. You'll have to go buy some more.'

¹⁰ "While the dumb girls were off buying more oil, the cowboy rode up. The girls with the lit lanterns walked with him to the house where he was stayin'. They went in to visit and the door was closed. ¹¹ Later, the dumb girls got back and knocked on the door and said, 'We want to meet you. Can we come in?'

¹² "But the cowboy replied, 'I've never seen y'all before. The girls who wanted to meet me were waiting on me to get here.'

¹³ "I want y'all who ride with me to pay attention to this story and always be ready. You need to be prepared because you won't know when all this will happen.

The Three Cowboys and Their Talents

¹⁴ "The Boss's place is also like a rancher who went away and left three of his cowboys in charge of training the comin' two-year-old colts. ¹⁵ He knew what each cowboy was capable of so he gave the first cowboy five colts to break, the second cowboy three colts to break, and one colt to the third.

¹⁶ "As soon as the rancher was gone, the first cowboy broke all five of his colts and then swapped them for ten unbroken colts. ¹⁷ The cowboy with two colts did the same thing. ¹⁸ But the cowboy with one colt was afraid to even work with the horse. He locked it in a stall so nothing would go wrong and the horse would be safe. He didn't ride it or even halter break it.

¹⁹ "When the rancher returned, he asked them about the horses he had assigned them. ²⁰ The cowboy who got five horses told about how he had done some horse trading and showed him the ten saddle broke horses. The cowboy said, 'You gave me five horses that couldn't be ridden and now you have ten that you can.'

²¹ "'Great job,' the rancher said, 'I'm gonna make you a full partner on this outfit. I put you in charge of just a little bit, but now I will put you in charge of more. Get your stuff out of the bunkhouse and put it in the big house.'

²² "The cowboy who had been given the two colts walked with the rancher to another set of pens. The cowboy said, 'You gave me two horses that couldn't be ridden and now you have four that you can.'

²³ "'Great job,' the rancher said, 'I'm gonna make you a full partner on this outfit. I put you in charge of just a little bit, but now I will put you in charge of more. Get your stuff out of the bunkhouse and put it in the big house.'

²⁴ "The cowboy who had received one colt walked with the rancher over to the stall where he had kept the one horse. The cowboy said, 'I know you're a hard man and don't tolerate excuses or shoddy work. ²⁵ I was afraid that something might happen to this colt so I just kept him in here so he would be safe.'

²⁶ "The rancher was furious and said, 'You know I'm a hard man and I don't tolerate excuses or shoddy work! ²⁷ You could have at least broke this horse so I could use him durin' brandin' season coming up.'

²⁸ "Then the rancher said, 'Take this colt and give it to the cowboy with the ten horses. ²⁹ Everyone who risks everything for me will be given more, but for those who are scared and cautious, all will be taken from them. ³⁰ I know city slickers who are better cowboys than you are. You are gonna be thrown off this ranch where you will suffer in great pain and cry all day and all night.'

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ "When the Son comes back with all his winged riders and all the power of heaven with him, he will sit upon the highest peak of the ranch. ³² Every territory and every nation will be gathered below him and he will separate the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right side and the goats to the left.

³⁴ "Then the Lord of the ranch will say to those sheep on his right, 'Come, all you who are blessed by the Boss, inherit the ranch that was made for you at the beginning of all creation. ³⁵ I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you watered me. I was a stranger on a lonely road and you welcomed me into your home. ³⁶ I had no chaps to protect me and you gave some to me. I was sick and dyin' and you cared for me. I was locked up in jail and you came to visit me.'

³⁷ "Then these cowboys and cowgirls who had done right in the Lord's eyes will say, 'When did we ever see you like this? ³⁸ When did we give you a room or hand you a pair of batwing leggings? ³⁹ When did we visit you in the jailhouse?'

⁴⁰ "And the Lord will say, 'I'm tellin' it to y'all straight. Every time you did these things for one of the cowboys or cowgirls who rode for my Father's brand, you did them for me too.'

⁴¹ "Then the Lord will turn to the goats on his left and say, 'Get these sorry mongrels off my spread! Put them on the killer trucks and ship them off to the fire that never goes out—the fire that was prepared for the devil and his demons! ⁴² I was hungry and you refused me food. I was thirsty and you laughed. ⁴³ I was a stranger in need and you ignored me. Thorns cut my legs and it made no difference to you. I was sick and in jail and you never visited me.'

⁴⁴ "Then they will cry out, 'Lord, we never saw you hungry, thirsty, or any of those other things. If we would have seen you, we would have done something.'

⁴⁵ "And he will answer, 'Listen to me close. When you refused these things to the cowboys and cowgirls who rode for my Father's brand, you refused them to me!'

⁴⁶ "And then they will be shipped off to the fires of hell, but those cowboys and cowgirls who rode for the Father's brand will be turned out to lush, eternal pasture."