Hunting and a Relationship With Christ

JJ aka 'Coonie Barnes' Jr on his first Deer Hunt

Proverbs - Chapter 22:6

6. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Psalm - Chapter 127:3

3. Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him.

This weekend was a blast. While we didn't harvest any deer, I had a great time getting out in nature and see just how beautiful this time of season really can be. It was a weekend of sharing and 'iron sharpens iron' moments with a fellow brother in the Lord. It was also a weekend of fulfilling a promise to my son. I took him on his first deer hunt. Surprisingly the little guy did great. It is hard for me to sit still for several hours, add the attention span of a six year old and you might want to throw in the towel.

Instead, I used it as an instruction moment. I was less worried about harvesting a deer and more concerned in raising my son to be a superb hunter when he is older. I look towards the future by raising this boy right so that I will have a hunting buddy all the rest of my days. Truly that is worth more than any gold or silver.

We spent time learning how to read the lay of the land. We learned what deer tracks were and get a genuine feel of how old they were. We learned about the importance of staying still and keeping our eyes moving to catch any movement. We also had fun listening to all the different animal sounds and trying to guess what they were. What a blast!

I am most excited about how God is changing me. How he is teaching me to live by Grace. What freedom that is. To set yourself free is such a simple concept yet we make it so hard to do so. Add the the dogmatism from our upbringing or the social norms of those who are around us, it is so easy for us to lose sight on Jesus our prize.

Honestly, our lives don't change from unsaved to saved over night. You cannot go from living one way to a magical change to the other overnight except through a supernatural occurrence of Christ Jesus.

The key here is having a loving relationship with Christ.

Do you remember falling in love?

I really do mean a relationship. Christ is the bridegroom and we as Christians are the bride. If you live truly the way God wants you to be, then you need to have a relationship with him. Do you remember what it was like when you fell in love? The more time you spent with your loved one, the more you wanted. Do you trading something that you thought was important in your life at the time just so you could spend more time with the one you loved. We do it because we love them. Such as it is with Christ.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- Ephesians 2:8

We are saved through faith. However that doesn't mean that in that magical instant that our lives are then all roses.  Many new Christians stumble here. They find themselves not knowing how to handle their lives post salvation. Just as my friends didn't change when I met my wife Jennifer, my desire to hang out with them did. That in turn brings stress on your life.

When I was truly saved, I still smoked. I like to drink. I was still struggling with pornography. I had one foot in Christianity and one foot 'in the world.' While I knew Christ as my savior, I had many idols and struggles in my life that I was dealing with. My life was far from perfect.

As I grew in my relationship with Jennifer, my want for many things changed. I wanted to please her and love on her more than I cared to party or spend time with friends. As the relationship grew, my want to do other things greatly diminished.

You see.... That is what I believe is the real picture that needs to be shared. I get frustrated when I hear Christians add so many barriers to a person that it becomes so hard for a new Christian today to truly be a Christian in those circles. People put 'conditions' or 'rules' on top of being saved by grace. This is what Paul's letter to the Galatians was about. He rejected this thinking.

You can't be a Christian and smoke....

You can't be a Christian and drink...

You can't be a Christian and love Rock N' Roll...

You can't be a Christian and look or dress a certain way...

You can't be a Christian if you don't have the proper translation of the Bible.

All of that sort of stuff is absolute Hogwash! Don't let that sort of speak get you down or hamper your relationship with Christ. The key to knowing the truth is not by listening to what others say, but to listen to what our Savior says and by reading his word.

Over time, as you begin to know your Savior Jesus, He will tell you how to live your life. A natural gift of the relationship with him will be a natural spiritual, mental and physical change in you. The more time you spend with him, the less mental anguish you will deal with. Your spirit will be more in tune to His so that you would know how to handle troubles when they come your way. Physically your life will change to be closer to the image of God daily due to his natural radiance in your life.

¹ Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. ² Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ -- Galatians 6:1-3

Finally, if you are a Christian and you see a brother or sister stumbling. While it is good to point people in the right direction, it is not the time for you to be a 'Sin Seeking Missile' out to point out the sins of others. Best it would be to encourage them to spend more time in Christ and build a relationship with Him than point out the sin. Better for you to come to their side and lift them up in prayer then feeling it is your job to expose their sin.

Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye. -- Matthew 7:5

More importantly, you should be mindful of the sins in your own life before you point out the sins in others. If you spend time with Jesus, you will know how to respond to your friend. You will know the love Christ has for us and what his Sacrifice covers and how He is more than enough to cover all our sins.