WHEN O’BRIAN SACKED HIS SADDLE
I saw Three Fingers Bob at the post office and got caught up on what’s happening to all the old timers in the area. Bob was born a mile or two down the road about 85 years ago. He keeps me up on the latest news of the older set.
Three Fingers Bob nodded at me. “Guess you heard that Jack O’Brian sacked his saddle last Tuesday,” he reported. “Nope,” I answered. “Where was he living?” “Down in some retirement village in Arizona. He’ll be coming home to be buried, of course. No one would want to be buried in Arizona.”
From the Old School
Three Fingers is from the old school. Jack O’Brian had sacked his saddle. That meant he died. The phrase came from the time when it was the custom, when returning home by train after a cattle drive, a cowboy would stick his saddle in a grain sack and check it through to his destination. This conveyed the idea a man had died and was now on the return journey to his eternal home.
The Trip Home
It’s pretty good imagery if you ask me. The journey to heaven is a trip home.
Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-2).
What Heaven’s Like
With all the speculation about what heaven might be like, the very best description is that it’s Jesus’ home. And he’s getting ready for you and me to stay with him.
It’s not open to everyone, of course. Only those who trust Christ will find this as their eternal destination. But when you think about it, that sounds fair. Those who live in our homes are only those whom we personally invite to live with us. The Lord has the same privilege.
It’s my prayer that when you finally sack your saddle, it will signify you’re going to that heavenly home.
~~ Stephen Bly
Circa 1996
Railroad Train in Clouds Image by mustapha outaleb from Pixabay
Heavenly Clouds Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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What a day that will be when we are all together again and in the presence of our loving heavenly Father