Howdy Friends! “Why is that?” The boy asked.
“That’s not an easy one to explain,” the old man said. “But I’ll try.” He stopped brushing the mare, draped his arms across her back. “Ya see son, just about all of us find it easier to explain our sins, and even justify ‘em, than to confront them – and ask forgiveness.”
“What’s that mean?” Asked the boy.
The old man moved to a straw bale and sat down, handed the brush to the boy. “Brush her tail, take all them tangles out.” He sat back and waited until the boy finished.
“Now have a look. You saw that tangled up mess, you didn’t explain it away, you brushed it out – made her tail a thing of beauty again. If you had just just thought about how them tangles’ll just come back again anyway, and how they weren’t so bad – why her tail would ‘a kept gettin’ more and more tangled until it was such a mess could hardly have cleaned it up.” The old man swiped his hand across his mouth. “That’s how it is things keep gettin’ worse and worse for some folks – They got no fear of God. Or trust in Him either. Just like you, that brush, and them tangles, a person is better off knowing their sins, even the little ones, and askin’ God for help. He’ll set your path, but a person’s gotta own up first. That’s how that works, every time.”
The old man thought about explaining how little sins ain’t any different than big sins, in God’s eyes, but he figured he’d let this percolate a day or three.
~ Gitty up, Dutch.
