It was a Lord’s Day afternoon, and Sam and Randy were down by the barn when they heard a clop, clop, clop on the road. They peered around the corner of the barn and to their surprise they saw a strange horse all alone, trotting toward the crossroads. There it stopped, as if trying to read the signs to decide which way to go.
The boys went carefully out to the road and headed the horse off to one side, and then into the corral. She was hungry and thirsty, but almost too nervous to eat, even though the boys tried hard to get her interested. The next day Sam tried to ride her. She gave him a wild ride that he would long remember! He was glad to get off that horse.
After almost two weeks of waiting for someone to claim her and of looking in the “Lost” column of the newspaper, Daddy sent for the brand inspector to come to identify her brand mark. It turned out to be two marks — one on top of the other. The current owner was notified and drove out one day to get
his horse.
He was disgusted. “She’s a runaway; nothing but a runaway! I can’t keep her fenced up, and neither could the man I got her from. Would you just keep her here till spring and I’ll pay you for feeding her?”
Daddy rubbed his chin. “Well, we’re short on feed this fall, and I have all these cattle to feed this winter. I’d rather you took her back with you.”
But the man finally convinced Daddy to keep her for the winter and left with the parting warning that she’d probably make a break in a fence and get away again anyway. The family horse, Silver, and the new horse, which was named Pet, were soon friends. Silver was very tame and loved to be fed special treats from the children’s hands. Pet, however, refused to let anyone get near her and always backed away when Daddy tried to catch her to put a bridle on her.
It was Beth who took a special liking to this shy, high-strung horse. She would often go down to the corral without anyone knowing it, sit on the top rail of the fence, and talk gently to the horse. Pet would snort and run to a far corner of the corral with a frightened look in her eyes. If Beth would approach a few slow steps, Pet would quiver all over. Even a pan full of oats was no bait for friendship as long as Beth was there. So she would set it down and go back to the house. But after visiting the horse every day for a few weeks, Beth felt rewarded when she saw Pet slowly take a few steps towards the pan and start nibbling. Beth sat patiently on the top rail of the fence watching her eat the oats.
Once Pet would eat oats from the pan in her presence, Beth tried to get her to accept oats from her hand. Pet reared up in terror and pawed with her front hoofs. Beth managed to soothe her by talking quietly. Gradually she began to stroke her a bit, and after a few more days, she started to groom her a little with a curry comb. She carefully smoothed the wild tangle of her mane and trimmed out the burrs.
The rest of the family didn’t know what was going on. Pet was no beauty when she came, and probably never would be, but by winter’s end she was looking sleek and well groomed. Even her owner was surprised when he drove in, pulling a trailer in which to haul her, to see her looking so good.
Pet was terrified at being loaded into the trailer. She stood in it trembling and nickering to her friend Silver who, in turn, whinnied loudly from the other side of the fence. Silver ran back and forth as if upset to see Pet about to be taken away.
While the man complained about the price he had agreed to pay Daddy for keeping Pet during the winter months, Beth slipped into the trailer to be close to Pet. Beth put her arms around her neck trying to soothe the scared animal and her own feelings at the same time. Daddy was saying, “No, I don’t need another horse.”
“Well, all right then!” the man said. As he turned quickly to go, he nearly stumbled over the group of children who had gathered around the trailer. They all hated to see Pet go. Beth’s eyes filled with tears as she said, “Please, Daddy.” She could say no more and had to bite her lower lip to keep it from trembling. She was so sad.
Daddy was surprised. “Why all this fuss over a stray horse that’s half wild?”
“She isn’t wild. She isn’t a bit wild. She’s been mistreated and is afraid, I know. She is just frightened, really,” pleaded Beth.
“But we don’t need ... ”
began Daddy.
“Two horses are much nicer than just one,” Randy suggested, and the rest joined in to plead for Pet. Pet didn’t know why the trailer gate was opened again so she could back down to the ground. She did not know that she had been bought by a new master. But when she got out of the trailer, she looked at the faces around her. She looked at the open road ahead of her, and then with a shake of her head, she trotted to the fence where Silver was and waited to get in. She never ran away again.
What kind of master are you serving? Maybe you don’t know that you are serving any kind of master, but you are. The Bible teaches us that we are servants to what we obey, either by obeying sin that leads to death, or by obeying God by doing His will. (See Romans 6:1616Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16).) Sinning gradually makes us the prisoner of sin and Satan, even though when we first do such sins, they may seem like fun. But bad habits grow stronger, and sin hardens the conscience and ends in death. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”
(Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)).
Are you unhappy? Would you like to start over? There is a new beginning for you, a new birth and a new life for all who come to the Lord Jesus and tell Him they are lost because of their sins. The Lord Jesus has paid the price to forgive your sins. Come to Him, who loved you and gave Himself for you (Galatians 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)). His invitation is, “Come unto Me, all [you] that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)).
Beth spent many happy hours that summer riding Pet and grooming her till she was sleek and shining. She taught her to lift each hoof in turn so she could pick out any rocks and sharp gravel lodged in the soft spots of her feet. Even Daddy had to smile when he saw Beth hold up the bridle one afternoon, and Pet come running right up to her as if to say, “At your service.”
What made the difference in this horse? It was love. God loves you much more than you know, and His love will change your heart so you will want to obey Him, if you will come to Him.
Messages of God’s Love 12/21/2025