Bible Study Verses
Colossians 3:22-24
Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. (NASB)
Thoughts
I finally got drawn for a trophy mule deer unit in Northern Arizona. My buddies and I labored long and hard deciding exactly where to go.
I bought a new scope, carefully cleaned and sighted in my rifle, tried various manufacturers' ammunition to see which performed best in my rifle; and then, of course, carefully recleaned my rifle. I bought a new pair of binoculars too!
We shopped for all the provisions we would need. One of my buddies spent two weeks pre-scouting the area for us.
We took the whole season off so that we could devote the entire time to finding the big buck.
One of our friends is a guide for the area, and he took us out on mule back. We hunted every nook and cranny, looking for our trophy.
I think you could safely say, we put one-hundred-percent effort into this hunt. But, we never found our trophy buck. I believe that one of the reasons that we didn't find it is that the buck was putting 100 percent of its effort into eluding us!
(Dave H)
Action Point
One of the best pieces of advice ever given me is that marriage is not a fifty-fifty proposition. That one thought revolutionized my thinking! Up till then. I thought it was 50/50. All I wanted out of my marriage was for my wife to do her half!
Who ever heard of going half-way on anything else we really want in life? I sure did not go 50-/50 on that trophy hunt! Think about this folks - there are times that, even when you and your spouse are both putting in 100 percent, you can hardly make it. Marriage is tough!
What if one or the other of you only puts in 50 percent? No, it just doesn't work that way. That is a recipe for disaster. Put in your 100 percent and then see what happens.
I have been married to the same woman for 35 years. Unfortunately, I was probably 20 years into the marriage before I was given this revelation about each spouse giving 100 percent. No wonder those first 20 years were so hard. I kept waiting for her to do her 50 percent. It's just a good thing she was already putting in 100 percent, or we would not have made it!
Sportsmen's Tip of the Day
We love the outdoors, especially the wilderness. We would spend all of our waking hours there if we could. We would spend every weekend hunting or fishing. But is that what our spouse wants? How about going to a marriage seminar on one of those weekends? That is where I learned the principle of each giving 100 percent. It was worth it many times over.
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