What Deer Hunting Teaches Us About Christian Living

'Us" you say, "Not me!"

Yes, I know that you are likely NOT a deer hunter.  There are only about 13 million of us in the whole of the USA.

And yes, you don't have to do something to learn something from it.  There are plenty of examples.

Here's some things that even non-hunters can learn, if you are willing to take my word for it (and I know for some that is a stretch):

• Most of hunting, like most of life, involves waiting.  - "...those who wait on the L^rd will renew their strength..."
• A lot of deer hunting is simply being in the deer stand when the right deer comes by.  A lot of life is tuning into what G^d has in mind, and being obedient enough to be in the position to be used of Him.
• There are things you can do to be more effective in hunting.  There are things you can do to be more effective in life.  We study deer, and Scripture.  We do hunting and life in community. We pray.
• It is easy to become discouraged in deer hunting.  I don't even need to explain this one.
• You have to get up early, so you need to go to bed early.  Ain't much good happens after 11 PM.
• Most hunts end without a deer.  Most days end without a visible success.
• The joy has to be in the hunt as well as in the harvest.  The joy has to be in obedience, and as we wait for the harvest.

And there is one more thing.

Deer hunting has brief, relatively meaningless rewards.  Here the analogy with the Christian life breaks down.