Cow branding symbols
Branding & The Christian Seal
Many believe the Spanish explorer Conquistador Cortez brought the first cattle to North America. His mark of three Latin crosses brought the first cow branding of hides in the New World. Every year since, someone’s been burning hair and leaving their mark on cows, calves, steers and bulls. And brands get put on in different ways.
Take hair cow branding, for instance.
When you hair brand an animal, you hold the branding iron against a critter long enough to burn the hair but not the hide. In a legitimate sense, this works well as a quick, temporary trail brand when you’re driving big mixed herds north to the ranch hands. But most often a hair brand provided a dishonest attempt to make the animal look properly branded. Sometimes a wet blanket branding made sure the hide didn’t mark. After a while, of course, the hair grew out leaving no brand at all. Then the calf could be cut out and branded with the rustler’s with no proof of original owner.
A hair brand isn’t a true brand. It attempts to look like one.
In a sense, those who accept Christ receive a brand. Paul said, “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13). The true imprint of the Holy Spirit marks our body and soul and spirit for life. From that day forward, we belong to God.
Different Christian Brandings
However, it seems like some folks want to play along for a while. They like to go to church meetings or get to know some Christians better. Or they have a believing mate and want to keep peace in the family. Perhaps they like their kids enrolled in a youth program. So they make a tentative stand for Jesus but never yield to His Lordship. They pass themselves off as belonging to the fellowship, but sooner or later, the hair grows back. That is, the true commitment shows to the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Once they’ve gotten everything they can out of the charade, they drop back into a previous lifestyle. Sometimes they suggest “the faith just didn’t take.” But here’s the truth: they never submitted to the Lord’s brand.
Stephen Bly
Circa 1995
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Just received this note: “I am enjoying Stephen’s messages and have left several comments. Yesterday, (my husband) and I took long trip to western Massachusetts and we listened to Stephen on our way home. I do enjoy the western flavor and simplicity of the way he conveys the essence of a complicated passage. I wish we could have met him, but plan on doing that one day! In the meantime, we can come to know him by listening to the snippets you are sharing. So, thank you!” Elly, Cape Cod