TrustWORTHY

Petunia, our last cow to calve, came in heat and was A.I.ed (see It’s Arranged, the May 18, 2012 post) today. Petunia is such a sweet, gentle cow that it’s always a pleasure to handle her. Even though she’s a very attentive mama cow, Petunia seems to trust us with her calf and never acts threatening.

Even though we’ve been working to increase our little herd, we won’t keep a honky cow or heifer. If their personality (yes, cattle definitely have a personality) makes them dangerous to people and/or dogs, we send them packing. That can be sad, but it’s so pleasant to live and work with animals we like and, to some extent, trust. Sure, it’s foolish to ever totally trust a very large prey animal—horse or cow--which responds instinctually to fearful stimuli. Although animals with docile temperaments tend to be safer to be around, none is totally trustworthy.

But when I think about it, people—even the best of them—aren’t absolutely safe and trustworthy either. Do you know anyone that always tells the truth, always keeps his/her word, always treats others with respect and love, and always does the right thing for the right reason? Do you know anyone who’s never moody, critical, mean, stingy, untruthful, unreliable, selfish, or unkind? Me either—with one very notable exception:

“God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on); by Him you were called into companionship and participation with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”                              --1 CORINTHIANS 1:9