WESTERN WISDOM, Season 5, Episode 7, "The Lowly Nighthawk" audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.
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The Lowly Nighthawk
Stephen Bly
Copyright 1995
You know, some names just have a good ring to them. They sound impressive. Take the term nighthawk. Why, that sounds like a sleek, fast, ferocious sportscar or motorcycle or high tech surveillance equipment with infrared scope.
But on the cattle drives in the Old West, the nighthawk was one of the lowest positions available. It was usually given to some green kid who didn’t know one end of a cow from another.
Job Description
The nighthawk herded the saddle horses at night. His job was the same as the wranglers by day. But he had to do it in the dark. He was to see that the saddle horses, always kept a good distance from the cattle and camp, didn’t stray too far away. This amounted to a lonely, boring, sleepless job, for the most part. His only rest came during the day in a noisy, busy camp.
If he was late bringing in the horses in the morning, he’d have the wrath of the old man to pay, no matter how good his excuse might be.
The Lowest Rung
As you can imagine, no one stayed a nighthawk very long. He was always on the prowl to find a better position with the outfit. The nighthawk ranked the lowest rung on the trail drive in order of jobs.
Sometimes it’s that way. A job that sounds great turns out to be lousy. And other times the one that seems pretty lowly can turn out to be great.
Lowly Spiritual Tasks
The Lord has a job in store for all of us. Do you know what it’s called? Being a servant. Listen to what Jesus said.
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (Matthew 20:27).
Nobody wants to volunteer to be a servant or a slave, do we? It’s just not classy enough. It’s so lowly sounding. But being a servant of Jesus Christ is the highest level of responsibility we can be given by God.
A Higher Position?
Jesus said, “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11,12).
You don’t like the idea of being a servant? Or a slave? You want a higher position? That’s too bad. There isn’t any level higher in Christ’s kingdom. But don’t despair. At least we’re not called to be nighthawks.