Out Our Way: Brand inspector

Out our way, if you transport livestock any distance you may have to deal with a brand inspector. I had to carry paperwork for Doc and Babe when I took them out of the county just to demonstrate they were really mine.

In the old days before fences were so common, large roundups were held on the open range and "reps" from different outfits came to the brandings just to make sure that the calves being branded had the same brand as their mamas.

Branding is still common, of course, but ear tags are also part of the process and a black Angus with a yellow ear tag mixed in with some Charolais with orange tags is fairly good tip off something is awry. Charlie and I were checking fence on the Tiger Ridge for the boss, who was running red Angus, when we came across a black Angus with a different ear tag. From that we knew that there was a break in the fence and some cow had gotten into the wrong pasture and the wrong herd. We found the hole, drove the intruder back out and repaired the break. No big deal, but it's part of the job to keep the herds where they belong.

Now, Jesus used a similar parable using the illustration of a shepherd who found some goats mixed in with his sheep. And the job of the shepherd was to cut the goats out of the flock, because they did not belong. They were not sheep and belonged to someone else.

The point of the parable is that at the "final roundup," Christ will act as the rep, brand agent and cowboy, claiming out own but cutting out the strays that don't belong. For, you see, the Lord is honest and claims none who are not His own. All strays and mavericks belong to the Devil by default. The Lord knows His own and claims them. The others He does not know nor claim, and the devil rounds them up.

But unlike the goats in Christ's parables, or the strays in mine, we have the choice before the round up as to which herd we choose to belong to. It is purely voluntary on our part. We can choose to be sheep instead of goats. We can choose to be part of Christ's herd or the devil's. You will note in the parable of the sheep and the goats, there so no " judgment" only discernment. It is not a matter of opinion but of simple reality. A sheep is a sheep and a goat is a goat. A cow with the owner's brand belongs to the boss, the cow with someone else's brand does not.

Although the Scripture talks of the last judgment I prefer the image of the roundup where the cattle are sorted by their brands and tags - and each owner takes his own. It is not up to the cows to decide who belongs and who does not - but the Brand Inspector knows and sorts accordingly. Unlike cattle, we get to choose to which herd we belong, and the Brand Inspector will honor that choice.

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John Bruington and "Doc" aren't out of the woods yet for though we have chosen our brand, we sometimes find ourselves drifting toward the wrong herd. But we have a faithful Rider who comes after us and herds us back to where we really want to be. So do you. Pay attention and let Him guide you if you stray - for on His range is the green pastures and still waters we long for.