Weekend Thought: Follow instructions and be aware of what's happening around us

Feeling better, the man asks the missionary for directions to the nearest town. On his way out of the backdoor, he sees a horse. He goes back into the house and asks the missionary, “Could I borrow your horse and give it back when I reach the town?”

The missionary says, “Yes but there is a special thing about this horse. You have to say ‘Thank God’ to make it go and ‘Amen’ to make it stop.”

Not paying much attention. The man says, “sure, ok”.

So he gets on the horse and says, “Thank God” and the horse starts walking. Then he says, “Thank God, thank God”, and the horse starts trotting.

Feeling really brave, the man says, “Thank God, thank God, thank God”, and the horse just takes off. Pretty soon he sees a cliff coming up and he’s doing everything he can to make the horse stop.

“Whoa, stop, hold on, down boy!!!”

Finally, he remembers, “Amen!!”

The horse stops four inches from the cliff. Then the man leans back in the saddle, sighs and says, “Thank God”.

It’s important to be able to follow instructions and to be aware of what is happening around us. Paying attention all the time is not easy and concentration on the job can be difficult. Perhaps of greater importance is the ability to listen. Often in life we are oblivious to things which could be of vital importance to us. Listening to what God is saying to us is something we may be slow in doing.