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Jesus Continues to Teach

¹ "Don't be a cowboy who only rides his horse in parades so people will notice him. If you do things just so folks will see you, there won't be a reward for you in heaven. ² If you help out a cowboy in need, don't go around telling everyone about it so they will admire you. I'm dead serious when I say you will already have received all the notoriety you will ever get if you act that way. ³ But when you do help someone out, don't let the glove on your left hand know what the glove on your right hand is doin'. ⁴ If you help folks privately, the Boss knows and will reward you himself.

⁵ "If you only take your hat off and pray when other people are watching, their appreciation is all you're gonna get. ⁶ But when you pray, head out to the barn where even the horses can't see you. Then the Boss, who sees and hears everything, will reward you.

⁷ "When you talk to the Boss, don't run your mouth off like an auctioneer who don't know when to say 'Sold!' Just repeatin' the same words over and over and over again don't get your prayers answered. ⁸ Don't be like those kinds of guys, 'cause the Boss knows exactly what you need before you ever open your mouth! ⁹ This is how you should talk to the Boss, 'Our Boss, who owns the heavenly pastures in the sky, may your name be revered above all others. ¹⁰ I hope your pastures come soon and I hope we all do what you want us to down here—just like things are done up there on your spread. ¹¹ Bring us today everything we'll need to get us by, ¹² and look the other way when we fail you. Help us also to look the other way when our partners fail us. ¹³ And don't let us fall into gopher holes that will kill us, but keep us safe and sound from evil.'

¹⁴ "If you look the other way when people do you wrong, the Boss will do the same for you. ¹⁵ But if you hold grudges against your fellow cowboys, the Boss will treat you the same way.

¹⁶ "If you want to show the Boss how much you care for him by goin' without food for a little while, don't go around tellin' everyone what you're doin'. Those who do are lookin' for sympathy and admiration from everyone but the Boss. That's all they'll get out of it, too. ¹⁷ But if you go without food for a while, saddle up and ride just like it's any normal day of work. ¹⁸ Then the Boss will know that the only reason you're doin' it is for him. It's this kind of stuff that he rewards.

¹⁹ "Don't buy a bunch of saddles and tradin' spurs here on earth so that people will think highly of you. The saddles will eventually rot and the spurs will rust if someone doesn't break into your barn and steal 'em first. ²⁰ Shoot for the great things of heaven, where there is no rot and thieves can't break in. ²¹ Whatever you long for the most is where your heart really is.

²² "Your eye is like the lantern of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body (or the barn in this case) is filled with light. ²³ But when your eyes are bad, the whole barn is filled with darkness. ²⁴ If you mistake darkness for the light, you have a mighty dark barn my friend. You can't live in the dark and the light at the same time. You'll love one and hate the other.

²⁵ "That's why I'm tellin' you not to worry about anything. Don't worry 'bout food or water, or if you will have boots to wear. Isn't this life more than about beef steaks, and isn't your body more than about boots? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don't have a herd of cattle to butcher for beef or a garden to pick vegetables for canning, but the Boss provides for them every day. You mean a lot more to him than little birds do. ²⁷ Can a little bit of worry really do anything to add a single moment more to your life?

²⁸ "Why worry about your boots and chaps? Even prickly pears have apples and grow strong in the pasture. Cactus don't have to work for these beautiful apples, ²⁹ and even the richest man who ever lived, Solomon, didn't have clothes like a cactus does. ³⁰ And if the Boss cares so much for cactus that are here today and rot tomorrow, he certainly cares for you. Why can't you have a little more faith than that?

³¹ "So don't sit around frettin' all the time, sayin' things like, 'I wonder what we'll eat? Will there be anything to drink? Will I have a neckerchief to keep warm in the winter?' ³² This is the way people think who don't believe in the Boss, but he knows everything you need. ³³ Search out his way before you search for anything else, and be sure and live like he wants you to. Then he will give you everything you need.

³⁴ "Don't fret about tomorrow, for tomorrow will fret about itself. Today's filled with enough frettin' for one day.