October 14, 2012   

Today's Photograph . . . . Love Is Spelled T...I...M...E   (MQ)

Bible Study Verses

Proverbs 12:18

The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (NIV)

Thoughts

This past Thursday night, my son and I had the opportunity to work through a concept we occasionally talk about. I've always encouraged him to only shoot a white tail if he has the time to deal with all the work that follows. I've often told him that from the start of shooting the deer to being done with all the work, it's going to take about three hours. 

So, here we were hunting on a school night. Personally, my selectivity (if that's a word), increases when I don't have as much time to work with. So, at 7:00, he called me up on our two way radios and told me that he had just taken a doe. With about a half hour of daylight left, I packed it up and headed over to his stand to try to get a start on tracking while we still had a little light. 

It soon turned dark, and the trail wasn't the easiest. It had been drizzling on and off during the hunt, so the ground was wet. We were able to track the deer easier by following blood that was on the top of ferns. Eventually, we found the deer. We had to field dress it, drag it back, get it secured on top of the Yukon, and head off for the processors. By the time, we got done dropping the deer off at the processors, it was 10:05 - almost exactly three hours after he had contacted me. 

(Dave M)

Action Point

Well, my point to Caleb has always been that you have to be willing to make the investment of time into the hunt, or you shouldn't be out there hunting. Shooting without the time for the follow up can potentially do more harm than good. Trying to rush the process just doesn't work very well.

Sharing our faith with others is often the same way. I have witnessed many who just drop their Christian worldview on others without being willing to invest the time in follow up conversations. An "issue" will come up, and the "bomb" gets dropped about what is right or wrong for that particular situation. The explosion occurs, the damage is done, and the conversation ends. People walk away frustrated and often feel "judged".

Well, there certainly is no magic formula for witnessing to others, but let me encourage you in your witnessing that IF you are going to share your faith through conversations on various issues, that you need to make sure you are willing to invest in that person's life later. You can't expect someone to adopt your Christian view without understanding why you hold that view....i.e. it takes time to get to know one another. After all, the reason for witnessing is because great love was shown to you and me through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If you love someone enough to witness to them, remember that love is spelled T...I...M...E.

Blessings on your conversations today!

Sportsmen's Tip of the Day

Hunt smarter, not harder! If something is not working for your particular hunting situation, don't keep repeating a failed hunting strategy. Reassess the situation and try a different method.