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Every Deer Has Its Tale

I like to start all of my deer hunting stories with that opener. It was a magnificent fall day to be in the woods enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of God’s creation.

Suddenly there was a 10-pointer crossing the pinch point at 30 yards. I knew I could hit that kill zone with my Ten Point crossbow. Safety, breathe, squeeze. The buck jumps into the woods, but doesn’t do the bronco kick.

As a hunter, you must have confidence in your skills, because you are the only one behind the bow or gun. So, you practice, you know your abilities and your quarry.

There is a sinking feeling when you look up and see your prey bounding off seemingly unscathed. Then, after the wait, you confirm your miss and the disappointment sets in. Only a white tuft of hair and no sign of blood. You missed. Well, at least he’s not wounded. There’s still time today, another day or another season. But you find your scope was loose when you are packing up and the sinking feeling of failure returns.

There was another day when I stepped out of my blind and around the corner pops a trophy doe. After a second of us staring at each other, I shouldered my shotgun, she started to spin but I was quicker and caught her quartering at me. She staggered but ran back around the corner. 

It was a half mile trot around the slough. As I rounded the end, she dove into the thicket, obviously hurting. While I ran toward the spot, the doe jumped back out and raced along the bog with me trying to hit her again. She left the field at the far end and I found no blood trail along that edge.

The next morning I found her, laying in the corner where she had gone down into the slough. That was not her that popped back out of the thicket, but it’s too late.

I wished I had missed her.

The buck was missed and the doe was wasted and as bad as it stings, I can’t help but think of a greater loss. Agrippa said, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Now that was a missed, wasted opportunity.

A Greater Loss

The Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). And, “The rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments” (Luke 16:22-23).

It would be a terribly wasted opportunity to go through life and not find the way to heaven. Confidence in our own intelligence can lead to failure if we miss.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

But to be saved there are some other facts we must face. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

That death is not physical but the second death. “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14-15).

We cannot save ourselves from hell after leaving this life. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

One More Tale

Same bow, same hunter, different buck, tree stand. He was massive in body, heavy in horns, diminishing in points and grey from nose to eyeballs. The distance was 25 yards and the shot was accurate, as the huck-a-buck attested. The trail was spotty and the pursuit was a crawl through dense thicket. The search took hours, mostly by flashlight. But the effort was worthwhile. 

The search for God in this thicket of life seems just as arduous but isn’t. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved … Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:9,13).

I still grimace over the loss of that doe and the miss on that 10-point. But to miss heaven is eternal. Please, friend, do not trust the loose scope of human reasoning for something as important as heaven or hell. The means to find the simple truth of God’s trail to heaven lays right in front of you.

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