Since early September, where two or three men are gathered together, there is discussion about location, amunition, types of guns, proper clothing, and who has tags. The purpose of these discussions began with doves, quail, and pheasants, but is quickly transitioning to deer and elk. Without a doubt hunting season is here and the hunters are preparing their best to be able to accomplish their purposes of bringing home some wild game that may or may not be eaten at their homes.
However, if you listen closely to people talking, these are not the only hunters who long to be successful in their own hunts. These individuals are hunting for things far different from our wild game hunters. Some of these people are hunting for a husband or a wife that will become a lifelong companion and mate. They want to find someone with whom they can raise a family, encourage and support one another through all of life, and be there to make the difficult decisions of life together. Others are not hunting for a mate but rather for a friend or two. They want a friend to visit with, go to lunch, share the blessings of life, and even to cry with. Another group is hunting for that which will fill the emptiness they feel in their lives.
Their vocations, their financial portfolios, their hobbies, and even their use of medications and alcohol have failed in their hunt for fulfillment.
The truth is that some of the wild game hunters of the first paragraph may also be some of the same hunters in the second paragraph. In my opinion success for both groups rests in some of the very things that the wild game hunters practice for hunting animals. However, some of the terminology will be different.
In our second group of hunters, guns and ammunition are not needed. However, two other resources would be of great benefit. I would suggest that prayer and the reading of the Bible would provide better resources in preparing to find a wife, a friend, or that elusive quest for fulfillment in life. It is in these two preparations that God is able to open one's heart and mind to truth and understanding of what marriage and friendship really are to be. In addition, it is in the Bible that one begins to discover the only One who can truly bring fulfillment in life.
A second needed resource is proper clothing. A wild game hunter sees two main purposes in the right clothing - protection and opportunity. Protection is from the elements of the weather and from fellow hunters. No hunter wants to be cold or to be shot by a fellow hunter mistakening him for a deer. Likewise, the hunter wants the deer or other game to not be frightened away by his clothing. The Bible speaks of proper clothing in spiritual terms - dressing in faith, righteousness, and truth and having salvation and the Word of God as active weapons. This clothing is not purchased in a store but it is what results from trusting God as the fulfillment and fulfiller of life.
Finally, there is this thing that shows up in so many endeavors - location. A wild game hunter doesn't usually hunt for deer in the same place he hunted for doves. Likewise, even his quest for elk may take him to a different place from where he hunted for deer. If your hunt is for a wife, a friend, or the only One who can truly bring fulfillment to your life, are you seeking results in the right location? In these days many hunters believe that their answer to success resides in a bar, a nightclub, or at some party. Is it possible that they have missed the best locations such as church, good families, and Christian friends?
Truthfully, I am not a good wild game hunter. I don't like to be outside in cold weather and in rough terrain. While I used to camp a great deal as a teenager, now in some older years of life I prefer my own bed or at least a nice hotel. However, I have been a very successful hunter in other ways. My wife and I have been married for fifty-six years. We have some close friends scattered over several cities and a few states. For sixty-seven years I have known true fulfillment in my life because of having trusted Jesus Christ to be my Savior and Lord when I was ten years old.
Hunting takes many forms. If wild game hunting is your hobby, I wish you success and safety. If you are hunting for those things that make life worthwhile, I pray for your success. Resources (prayer and the Bible), clothing (clothed in the Lord), and location (among the people of faith) are steps in good hunting.
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