I did not always do the right thing when I was going
to college.
If I had to write a list of the things I did wrong, I would run out of paper before I ran
out of things.
I went to school in a small Midwestern town called Tarkio, Mo.
It's claim to fame? At one time it was the popcorn capital of the world.
The small town had a little less than 6,000 population. About 600 of that was
transient, the students at Tarkio College that stood in its midst. Tarkio, for those
of you who may be curious, is an Indian word that means Walnut.
It was great for education. There was not a lot to do in town other than study. That
and enjoy natures playground.
There were a lot of sprawling corn fields. More than a fair share of cows. And
if you went just a little distance into Iowa (Tarkio stood almost where Iowa, Nebraska,
and Missouri came together) you could wallow in the joys of hog farming.
This all was real new stuff to me. I was from a suburban/urban setting and
this was Green Acres.
The wide open expanses allowed us to do a couple of things. Neither of which
we should do. The corn that the farmers grew was for feed, the huge kernel variety.
We discovered early on that this was delicious if picked early and grilled over a
bonfire. There were a lot of flickering lights out in those corn fields during
the warm summer months. The farmers put up with our minor thievery and usually
we would end up helping them do chores before the crop was harvest. It was kind of quid
pro quo situation.
The other farm activity we took was looked upon less graciously by the farmers.
We would creep into their grazing fields at night. You would see the cows scattered
about. On a bright, moon-lit night you could see their silhouettes like sentinels in
the field. If you got close to one, you would hear a heavy rhythmic breathing.
I learned that cows slept standing up.
I also learned, if you gave them a good push, they would fall right over. Like a
huge cardboard cutout, then when they hit the ground with a thud, they would emit a loud
sound that was a cross between a moo and a moan. Clearly it was a sound of
dissatisfaction for such a rude awakening.
As far as we knew, there was not real damage done in this activity. The cows dusted
themselves off and soon would be back to snoring in another location.
This activity was called Cow Tipping. I know is sounds silly. But it was
something to do when you had filled your stomach with several ears of sweet, succulent
corn and you were looking for you next non-college-related activity.
I often thought what it must have been like for the cow. You are standing there
feeling pretty comfortable. You have been fed and now you are a little tired. You
look around, nothing there suspicious or threatening. So you close your eyes,
comfortably and secure, feeling like all is right with your world.
Then suddenly you feel you equilibrium slipping away from you. You are fall.
Crashing towards the earth. Then with a thud, you connect with the
ground. Dust rises from your impact. And it smarts a little when you
hit. From a cow's perspective, it really is not much fun.
I think Satan has a game he calls Christian Tipping. It is a take off on my
one-time bovine pleasure.
He waits until we get very comfortable and secure within our selves. We are
fat and sassy. Well fed and tended to. We are resting on our laurels and
feeling invincible. We close our eyes for just a second, to enjoy a moment of rest.
And Satan pushes us and we tumble.
Satan's push usually is not to make us fall down but more to fall in. He uses our
complacency to push us right into a sinful situation. Starts our momentum towards
something that, by being in the flesh, we are prone to do any way.
And then he lets the sin pull us down. Other people wag their fingers. Our own
failures convict us and keep us from enjoying the joy of the Lord. It is hard to
feel Jesus' joy when you are so deep in the muck of the world you have a hard time seeing
the son through the smog of sin.
Even good people occasionally do bad things. Especially if they get a little extra
push from Satan, when He is out Christian Tipping.
Sometimes I feel Christians are like those inflatable clowns I got as a child. They
had big round bottoms. You could push them down but they would pop right back up.
With God's forgiveness, bolstered by the blood of his Son Jesus Christ, the devil keeps
trying to push us down. And sometimes we get a little dirty in the process.
But through God's forgiving love, we pop right back up again. And the dirt,
we are washed clean in the blood of Jesus.
We can not be like the cows. Getting fat and content and then falling
asleep to all that is around us. If we do so, you can almost bet, Satan
will be coming through your field of dreams to give you a push. We need to stay
alert and vigilant in our Lord and Savior Jesus. Anchored on the solid rock.
So if Satan pushes, you can tell him "I shall not be moved."
