Put On Your Ranch Pants

“And above all these virtues, put on love, which binds

them all together in perfect unity.”

Col. 3:14

My leggin’s lay on the floor of the tack room.  This keeps them flat and in shape. The reason I want them flat is so that they don’t form creases in weird places.  Even though I wear my leggins in the pasture and most of the time I’m only seen by my husband and son…I still want my leggins to lay right on my legs.  And I don’t want a hard crease to form in an area that may be uncomfortable to me. If a crease were to form under my leg, then I would probably end up with a raw place and that would become extremely uncomfortable.  These unwanted creases can sometimes come from being in a hurry and hanging my leggins the wrong way or throwing them on the floor instead of taking the time to put them flat, with one leg laying on top of the other.

Putting my leggins on and wearing them in the pasture is a means to protect me from some tough West Texas brush.  Catclaw, Spanish Dagger, and tree branches are often deflected from going into my legs, thanks to my leggins. I don’t know anyone who would gather cattle without putting on a pair.

Can you see how I would want to keep them in good shape?  They are a necessity to ranch life. Putting them up correctly, ensures me that I will be comfortable in them while horseback and better equipped to focus on finding cattle.

Sometimes we can form some hard creases in our life.  Perhaps from an attitude or from just being…plain ole ungrateful. We can become disheartened by comparing our lives to others and then becoming mad for not looking like someone else.  Our attitudes reflect when we go out to work, go into our community, and when we are home with our families. We begin to lose track of putting on love because we’ve been too busy putting on jealousy, or hatred, or doubt.  Those hard creases can cause us to become uncomfortable and form some raw places in our lives. Those lonely places, far from who God designed us to be. I’ve been there…what about you?

Today:

Pray that God will reveal to you any hard creases you’ve developed in your life. Have you been putting on love or have you been in a hurry and not taken the time to put Him as the priority in your life?  Finally, be willing to let the Lord soften the your heart where necessary. Now your ready to focus on the job ahead…now your ready to ride without those uncomfortable and unnecessary hard creases.