Imagine me as a fourteen year old girl, all cuddled up in my cocoon made of the quilt sewn by the hands of my great grandmother. I had surrendered myself to the land of dreams, when my momma rustled me back awake. I remember her gleaming smile as she whispered to me. “A calf was born.” I leaned up, looking at her, knowing it was late at night but whispered back the question anyway. ”Can we go see it?” She smiled and nodded her head.
I jumped out of my warm cocoon, now long forgotten. Put on my pink farm jacket, and stuffed my pajama pants into my muck boots. It may have been early May, but on the ridge in Ohio, winter still made its appearance at nights. My momma, dad, and I loaded up in the car and drove down to where our cows were. I had a exciting feeling in the pit of my stomach. My dad and I made a bet on which cow would deliver her calf first and if I won I would not have to feed the cows for a whole week!
We pulled up to a small pasture where the first batch of soon to be mother‘s were being held, the cow my dad guessed was in that batch. When we saw no new calves I smiled and my heart was drumming in my chest. My dad’s groan making me smile. We drove to where the other cows were. We then saw the cow that was my guess, Annabelle. And there laying next to her was a newborn bull calf. I clapped and might have chanted, “I won! I won!“
We then walked up to the new mother calmly and realized something was wrong. The calf should have been up and moving already. Drinking the rich colostrum that his mother was eagerly holding for him. We felt him and he was still cold, wet, and couldn’t stand on his own. Annabelle was still licking him trying to get him warmed up and on his feet. But the calf was weak...too weak. And without a second thought my dad ripped off his sweatshirt, with nothing but a thin cutoff underneath to protect him from the cold wind; He used that sweatshirt as a towel helping dry off the calf and get his blood pumping. The calf was starting to stir but not like he should. My dad then milked the mother’s colostrum into his hand and then hand fed the milk to the weak calf, knowing that the colostrum was crucial in saving this calf. The calf now was coming alive, but he was still cold, and not getting on his feet.
My dad then picked up the calf and told my mom to crank up the heater in the car to as high as it could go. He carried the calf to the car, while reassuring the anxious mother saying, “Don’t worry. We are trying to help your baby. We’ll bring him right back.”
We sat in the car rubbing the calf while taking our jackets off as the heater got hotter and hotter, burning us up, but the calf now coming alive and moving around more, and that was all that mattered to us. After about 15 minutes, my dad carried him back to Annabelle,who was now screaming for her baby...sorry neighbors! But as soon as she saw her baby she was relieved. She started licking him and letting out those motherly soft moos that momma cows send to their babies. We then moved both of them to a small paddock by themselves. Said our goodbyes sent up a prayer that the calf would make it and drove back to the house while debating on names.
The next morning the calf was all bright eyed and bushy tailed. Standing proudly next to his momma.
Why did I decide to share this story with you? To show you how Jesus loves. He would go after the 1 sheep out of 99. Just like my dad took off his Sweatshirt to save this wee little bull calf. Jesus did the same thing except he took off OUR sin, OUR shame, OUR grief, he took it all for us. He wore it so that we could live. And we can’t state that it was an accident, that Jesus made a miscalculation, the he didn't see this coming.
Mark 10:32 says, ““And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them.” Jesus walked ahead of them marching on towards what was to come and he knew what was there waiting for him because in the next few verses he said this, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.””
He knew...but why did he do it? Why did he keep marching on, knowing he would be all alone?
Because of love. He gave everything to save us. He worked hard, sacrificed his needs...his life so that we could live. That is sacrificial love.
The calf went on to live a plentiful life. He was always getting into adventures, when he would find a way out of the pasture he would run kick up his feet and run. Why? Because of what my dad did he had a chance to live and he wasn’t going to waste it.
One of my favorite lines in the incredible book by Francine Rivers, The Last Sin Ester says, “The truth has set you free, beloved. Now you must choose to walk in it.”
So what will you choose? Will you choose to believe that Jesus sacrificed everything to give us a new life but be to afraid to do anything about it, or will you kick up your heels and run embracing the life that Jesus has for you?
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