Colorado weather has finally decided to warm up. After months of cold and snow, we are now enjoying warmer temperatures…perhaps a little too warm for some. But we are at least able to enjoy the outdoor patio.

As I woke to the birds singing and a beautiful sunrise, I looked out my window and saw the open space behind our property. It was green! It looked like a rolling meadow and I was awestruck.

I then told my husband, “This is beautiful! Without my glasses I can’t even see the junk yard.”

This field is green now, but just a few weeks from now, it will be dry and it will turn brown. My beautiful green meadow will be gone.

As I snapped photos of the field, I remembered an old song we used to sing. “He Owns the Cattle (on a Thousand Hills).” There isn’t a cow to be seen, not even a chicken. There is an occasional prairie dog or coyote, but still no cattle. So why would I think of this particular song?

Because that song goes on to share an even greater message. Take a look at these words and if you’d like, you can listen to a medley of songs by the Gaither Trio that includes “He Owns the Cattle (on a Thousand Hills)” by clicking here.

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell –
He is my Father so they’re mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills –
I know that He will care for me.[i]

It’s not that God owns all of His Creation. It’s that He has shared it with me! I am His heir and therefore all that He owns belongs to me as well.

But the earthly portion of it isn’t even the best part. Oh we have some beauty in our world to see, but my future home is far greater and more wonderful than anything this world has to offer.

Because God is there. Jesus, my Savior sits at God’s right hand. I will be able to sing praises to them forever without my voice cracking or feeling weak. I will be able to stand in their presence without my feet hurting. I will never grow weary of worshiping.

And unlike my green meadow that will turn brown soon, nothing in heaven will grow old or fade away or die. Forever, it will be green.

And unlike the drought season that will return to my small portion of this earth, there will always be water in heaven for there is a river that runs through it.

And unlike the small amount of trees that line the landscape from my view, there are trees that produce crops of fruit and they are on either side of the river of life.

And all of this will be mine one day for I have Jesus’ promise that He will return. I find great hope in John’s final words after seeing the vision of heaven. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20 – NIV)

I believe that sometimes I get too comfortable in this world. I love its beauty and the people I am blessed to have in my life and I forget Jesus’ words that He is coming soon. And I rarely ask for Him to come as the Apostle John did.

And because my mindset isn’t always as it should be, I miss opportunities to share God’s grace and message with the lost and dying world. I am too focused on the now instead of the eternal future.

I must be determined to live my life with urgency. The urgency Jesus felt in those three short years of ministry. The urgency of His mission “to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10 – NIV)

We find these words in Psalm 50:10 (NIV). “For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” But I find greater joy in knowing that I am His and that He cares for me.

Do you belong to Him?

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna

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