You will get a kick out of this if you are an outdoorsman. If you’re not, the spiritual implications arevaluable, trust me. I recently spent a few days bowhunting in adense forest in central Missouri. On thesecond morning of the hunt, I awoke 30 minutes before the alarm went off. I slept great! I was rested and ready to go. Getting up extra early, I was able to readthe Bible, pray and enjoy some good coffee before we left the cabin. I had only been in this set of woods oncebefore and yet walked directly to the tree I wanted to hunt from. Awesome! The morning was goingperfectly. I climbed the tree and gotsettled in my stand. I knew this wasgoing to be a great day.
About 7:30 a.m. I saw movement on my right side. Here he came. A nice buck emerges from the brush about 20 yards away. I had only a small lane to shoot through andknew I couldn’t waste much time. That’swhen it happened; a series of mistakes that would turn my “perfect” morninginto a long, wet, disappointing day. Letme explain.
As I drew my bow, my peep sight turned. Aargh! That’s when I realized my firstmistake of the morning; I didn’t give my equipment a thorough check. Then, I made my second mistake, I didn’tregroup. I thought about it. I really did. But instead, I took a blind shot. The result was a poor shot and hours of tracking in the rain!
Tired and frustrated, I settled into a different spot in theevening. I just knew that the deer wouldcome from one direction so I set my climbing stand to face it. I had good, clear shooting lanes, my peepsight was in
place and I was ready. Thenit happened. The deer did not come from the direction I was facing. Nope, itcame from behind me. When I realized it,I got impatient. Instead of waiting forthe right moment to turn my body into position, I hastily turned around to geta shot. By the time I got back to where Ineeded to be, I was busted. I watched asthe deer galloped away from about 25 yards. I neglected to follow the basicrules of hunting.
Needless to say, as I lay in the bed that night my emotionswere much different than how they had begun earlier that morning. My anticipation of a great day had turned toa restless night of disappointment and a list of “should haves.”
As I pondered on the mishaps it struck me. The mistakes I made in the woods are often madein our faith journey with the Lord. Wego from unspeakable joy and great anticipation to regret and disappointment
quickerthan a deer can jump a fence and disappear in the brush. Why? Often because we don’t take the time toexamine our spiritual condition, regroup when we notice problems and fail tofollow the basic disciplines of our faith.
quickerthan a deer can jump a fence and disappear in the brush. Why? Often because we don’t take the time toexamine our spiritual condition, regroup when we notice problems and fail tofollow the basic disciplines of our faith.
As I sat in the woods the next day, I thought about thesethree lessons that I learned the hard way. They are not just good for hunting, but for our spiritual walk with theLord as well.
1. Inspectfrequently.
If I would have inspected my bow, I would have seen theproblem. How many issues could we avoidin our spiritual journey if we gave ourselves frequent inspections?
The Apostle Paul challenged us, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you aredisqualified” (1 Corinthians 13:5).
A series of questions from time to time wouldn’t hurt any ofus. The answers may be a little painful,but they are much less painful than the alternative.
Here are just a fewexamples.
Here are just a fewexamples.
· How is myattitude today?
· How is myprayer life?
· Am Ireading and memorizing Scripture?
· Am I portrayingChrist or myself?
2. Regroup and take care of the problems.
I may not have gotten to take a shot if I had of regrouped and corrected my peep sight when I noticed there was a problem, but it would have kept me from taking a bad shot. Examinations don’t do us any good if we don’t fix the problems we detect.
The Psalmist prayed, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions,And my sin is always before me.” (Psalm 51: 2-3).
Don’t play the blame game like Adam and Eve did in theGarden. Acknowledge your sin and allowGod to cleanse you through His grace, regroup and get back to serving Him.
3.
Follow the Basics.
Follow the Basics.
When I turned to get into position during that evening hunt,my objective was clear, however, I moved the wrong way and at the wrong time. How often does that happen to us spiritually? Most everyone I know wants to honor God and follow His Will for their lives. Yet we get out of alignment with His purposes or distracted. I believe one of the reasons is we neglect to follow the basic disciplines of our faith such as prayer,reading Scripture, worship, loving and serving our neighbor and sharing our faith.
The New Testament illustrates the life we are developing in Christ to that of constructing a spiritual house. Jesus is the chief cornerstone, the teachings of the Apostles are the foundation stones and the basic disciplines of our faith must be the floor joists and 2x4 walls. We all like to see the house when it is finished. We judge a house by the color schemes and the fancy gadgets, but it is the foundation and the studs that make the house sturdy.
1 Peter 2: 4-6 says, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men,but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
Frequent inspections, regrouping when your detect problemsand following the basics may seem time consuming. Yet, they will help keep you from ending theday frustrated and disappointed. You representChrist on the earth. Don’t take anyshortcuts. Give Him your best.
