The Rough and Rowdy Devotional

Riding the Wild Burro

“And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?”

Luke 14:27-28

When my grandma Autumn was a girl, she and her brother Wiley lived in a part of Arizona that was full of wild burros. They were frisky, fun, and adorable. Those little donkeys looked like the kind of critter a feisty young girl should be riding.

So, Autumn climbed a towering tree and shimmied out onto a big branch that hung over the path. She lay flat so the burros wouldn’t notice.

Wiley kicked his horse into a trot and shooed the nearest herd under Autumn’s tree.

The burros were trotting beneath her while Autumn gripped her branch waiting for the right moment. As the last burro clip clopped under her tree, she rolled off the branch and landed smack on that burro’s back.

These were wild burros. Very wild.

They had never worn a halter, eaten a carrot out of someone’s hand, or felt a saddle. That burro had certainly never had a girl swoop out of the sky and land on him.

The burro squealed and exploded into action.

He brayed and bucked and turned in a crazy circle to the right.

Autumn held on but was sliding left. She decided to let go and slide off. Only, the burro changed directions.

The wild burro spun to the left, bucking and braying all the while. Maybe she could slip off his right side?

Nope, the burro spun to the right, once more.

Autumn would do about anything to end her adventure. But as she bounced on that fuzzy critter’s back, she looked down at his sharp little hooves.

Would the burro trample her like a rattlesnake if she leaped free?

Up on the hillside, safe on his horse, Wiley was doubled over with laughter.

Finally, that burro spun and bucked close to a fence. There was a short space between the ground and the lowest rail.

Could Autumn make it under in time to escape the beast’s hooves?

Wiley wasn’t any help, so Autumn took action. As the burro spun and squealed, she flung herself off his back and rolled under the fence.

With no girl on his back or by his hooves, the burro gave a sigh of relief and galloped off to catch the herd.

Neither Autumn nor Wiley ever rode a wild burro again.

Have you ever gotten into a situation that was more than you could handle? Have you ever wished you had thought more about what might happen before taking action?

Jesus tells us to count the cost beforehand. Following Him can be hard. He doesn’t want us to be surprised by difficult times but to trust in his love. Sometimes when you count the cost, you realize it’s not worth the pain. Like riding a wild burro! But when we see how much God loves us and that following him is full of blessings as well as tough times, we can know it is worth the cost.

Dear Lord,

Help me to learn to count the cost before I act and to avoid dangerous situations. Help me to be thoughtful about following you as well. To know that there will be troubles but to also trust your love. Give me strength from you and the ability to avoid the wild burros along the way.

Amen.