The Rancher Who Went Out in the Storm

In February 2019, a polar vortex drove temperatures across the Midwest to forty below zero. Most ranchers in western Nebraska hunkered down and waited it out. But Keith Jarvis, a cattle rancher outside Ogallala, noticed three heifers missing from the herd — including one pregnant cow he'd raised from a calf.

Keith drove his truck through whiteout conditions for two hours, searching fence lines and creek beds. He found the first heifer trapped in a snowdrift near a collapsed section of barbed wire. The second had wandered onto a neighbor's land, disoriented and frostbitten. The pregnant cow he discovered last, wedged in a frozen ravine, too weak to stand. Keith carried hay down the embankment, wrapped her in horse blankets, and stayed with her through the night until a veterinarian could arrive at dawn.

When a reporter later asked why he'd risked his life for three cattle, Keith said simply, "They're mine. That's reason enough."

This is the heart of Ezekiel 34. The Lord declares, "I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them." While the hired shepherds of Israel grew fat and neglected the flock, the Almighty refused to abandon what belonged to Him. He would seek the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the injured, and strengthen the weak. Not because the sheep earned it — but because they were His. That, the prophet tells us, is reason enough for God.