Christian Living

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Larry Lilly’s Letter Tuesday September 16, 2008

Have you ever got knocked out of the saddle? Figuratively or literally? Either way, it can hurt, bad. As a kid I was clotheslined out of the saddle once, the line got me right on the forehead; a little lower and I would have been history. I have accepted that being a veggie is better than being history. My few times of being knocked out of the saddle figuratively is history, one of the occasions is studied in a few colleges around the country.

Being “knocked out of the saddle” is an old saying for a defeat, a failure to accomplish the stated goal. Once in the saddle the goal is to remain in the saddle until you make the choice to dismount. An earlier departure means defeat.

Again, I learned as a kid the first rule of manhood was that you had to immediately get back in the saddle. This was supposed to aid in defeating fear.

Well enough of my getting bounced out of the saddle. A girl whom everyone considers very smart and also has the highest recorded IQ in the world, Marilyn vos Savant, says:

“Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.”

Tragically, far too many people suffer temporary defeat and by choice decide to let it be permanent.

My long time friend, Keith Reedy, is legally blind, yet he founded and operates a ministry, “Bibles For The Blind” that produces Bibles in Braille and provides them free of charge to sight challenged people around the world. Keith literally prays in the money on a monthly basis to keep the work going, involving tons of expensive paper suitable for Braille. Often he partially finishes a copy of the Bible, and has to wait for the Lord’s people to send in more money to finish. I meet people all over the country who depend on Keith for their Bible.

Prior to Keith’s conversion to Christ he was most famous for his song, “Drinking Billy Beer” a bar room ballad dating back to President Carter’s days. Christ put a new song in his heart about 3 decades ago. Brother Reedy has suffered many temporary defeats, but being a man of faith, he refuses to permit these defeats to become permanent. Praise the Lord.

Another long time friend, Dr. Tom Wallace, often tells of a little boy who received a pair of Ice Skates for his birthday. He went out to the frozen pond, put on the skates and proceeded to learn the art. He fell at least 75 times, and wiping tears from his eyes, was attempting to get back up, when a kind hearted man suggested that because he was having so much trouble he should quit. The child looked at the man, wiped yet another tear from his cheek and with quivering lip said, “I didn’t get em to quit, I got em to learn how!”

As I said at the outset, I am acquainted with defeat, but I often recall the words of an old song,

“I was near to despair when He came to me there, and told me that I could be free, then He lifted my soul, gave me gladness complete when He reached down His hand for me.”

These and many words from the Bible, get me up and keep me going toward the prize.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2008 Use with credit.

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