WESTERN WISDOM "Old West Cowboy Saints" audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.
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OLD WEST COWBOY SAINTS
Stephen Bly
Circa 1996
Thousands of heads of cattle roaming through unfenced ranges in the Old West presented a powerful temptation. To some men the scene looked as profitable as bags of money lying around in the street. Besides, the actual cattle owners were often eastern bankers or foreign investors who surely wouldn’t miss a couple cows.
There’s no way of guessing how many hundreds of thousands of bovines were rustled during those early days of the cattle business out West. When you add those the Indians decided to appropriate, a person begins to wonder how any man or company stayed in business.
Cowboy Loyalty
One of the reasons they prospered had to do with the loyalty of the saints. To an old-time rustler, a saint was any cowboy loyal to the brand.
Now some might object that it’s a might loose definition of the word ‘saint.’ I suppose we’ve perpetuated the idea that a saint is an almost other-worldly character who floats over the earth’s surface doing gracious good deeds no mere mortal would successfully complete.
We often suppose saints to be those who’ve done supernatural miracles. They get their pictures in stained glass and their birthdays honored in old-time calendars.
Biblical Saints
But that’s not the Biblical view of a saint. The word actually means ‘the holy ones’ and it’s applied to all believers.
Paul addresses the book of Romans to “All in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Romans 1:7).
In 1 Corinthians 14, he gives instruction for all the “congregations of the saints” (verse 33).
Giving to the poor believers is called in II Corinthians 9 a “service to the saints” (verse 1).
And he promises all the believers in Colossae will “share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light” (verse 12).
The Set Aside Ones
You see, to be a holy one, a saint, means you have been set aside by God for a special purpose. Our faith in Christ guarantees this position and allows us to be called saints. While we don’t earn this station, we will want to respond to such an honor by a lifetime of loyal service.
Now, you could describe a saint as one loyal to the Master. Isn’t that interesting? That’s exactly the Old West definition—one loyal to the brand. Jesus also entrusts us to be worthy of that title.