Hunting Season.

You can tell a certain time of year is upon you when you hear outside your window all day long Bang, Bang, Bang.

That’s right: Deer hunting season.

It’s as if some disease floods the veins of every man old enough to carry a gun. From dawn until dusk the boys are at it, driving everywhere in what appears to be some kind of rabid frenzy looking for “The Big One.”

Please note that to see two cars on my road at the same time has the odds of roughly zero to none, so seeing three at the same time is preposterous.

 

 They’re looking for the one they will brag about, be known for, and mount above the fireplace. It makes them a certain kind of famous, no doubt; to be the hunter that landed the season’s biggest buck.

Then there are those who do feed their families with these deer. While not so rabid-looking, these men are on a quest of their own. They are looking for an animal that is worth the effort.

Say what you want about hunting and animal rights, when you live in the middle of nowhere like I do, hunting is a major necessity; trust me, even after the season is over the population will still be healthy and strong. White-tailed deer we have no shortage of.

This morning however, I was on my way home from something and I looked to my left, out to an open field and I saw the most interesting scene. Animals are creatures of instinct and whether their behavior is a conscious thought to them or not, their instincts make them act differently from time to time. There before me in the field was a little herd of deer. Six or seven of them. But what they were doing caught my eye: they were on guard.

Very low to the ground, almost unable to be seen, were two or three little deer, no doubt they were this spring’s babies. The other three or four deer were all facing a different direction.

Watching.

They stood there, and even the distance that separated us could not hide the fact from me that they were tense. As I said before, whether they knew why they were watching or not is irrelevant, but something in them was telling them to be alert. Be on their guard. And protect the little ones that can’t protect themselves.

It was the craziest scene for another reason as well: They were not hiding in the woods. They were hiding out in the open. If I was them, my brain would tell me, “Go hide under a tree, don’t be out where every hunter and his grandfather can be seeing you.”

But the more I thought about it the more I realized that maybe they WERE in the right spot, for although they had nothing to “protect” them, they also had nothing blocking their vision to see their predator coming. There was no way they could be surprised.

It was no surprise to me then when there in my yard were deer. On the run, they knew they were being chased.

 

 

I couldn’t help but think though, “I bet that buck has no idea they are all after HIM,” and if I could have spoken deer language I probably would have said, “You are more than welcome to stay in the yard; those men with guns aren’t allowed to shoot towards my house…”

I am no save-the-animals kind of person, mind you, and while I don’t believe in cruelty to animals (for I don’t believe in cruelty to ANYTHING), I also don’t have an issue with population control. All that to be said, there was some twinge of understanding that constricted my heart a bit as I watched those running deer: I felt like I, too, understand what it’s like to be hunted.

Call me mystical, but I see very close parallels between deer hunting season and the Christian life.

I Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

That’s a pretty strong verse, kids! This is serious business. And don’t for a second think that the devil is one of those hunters who is out there planning on feeding his family on you, just quietly, somewhat nonchalantly, waiting for you to come to him, not requiring much effort on his part.

No, no.

You are the buck.
You are the trophy he wants.
He wants to mount you on the wall.
He is hunting you.

If you are any kind of good Christian, following Christ and really desiring to do God’s will, you are a challenge to him because you threaten his territory. He views you as a rival. And even though he cannot change your eternal destiny (if you are saved by the grace of Christ) nothing makes a hunter more rabid than the thought of elusive prey.

What’s more is the devil tries to get us to hide in a forest, too, just like what my instinct would have advised those deer in the field to do. He doesn’t want us watching with wide eyes in the open, knowing he is coming! He wants to lure us to some place we think is “safe.”

Busy-ness. Ministry. Wholesome activities. Respectable Idolatry (kids, work, family, what-have-you),etc.  He wants to get us to think we are safe from his attacks, because we have too much “good” in our life. If that doesn’t work he will try to make us feel safe because all of our vulnerabilities are hidden: sex addictions, alcohol abuse, unhealthy or secret relationships, eating disorders, lust, greed, discontent, covetousness, whatever—anything we have convinced ourselves is safe or “Ok” because we really aren’t hurting anybody; it’s a private issue. Those are forests he likes to draw us into; whatever it takes to get our guard down; to distract us from seeing him coming.

But really, all of those things we insulate ourselves with, “protect” ourselves with, is really just like playing hide and seek with a kid. Children don’t actually hide, they just put a pillow in front of their face and think “If I can’t see you, that must mean you can’t see me.” Us going about, living our good little Christian lives and thinking somehow we have become untouchable because we can’t see anything else is a false security. If the only reason we feel secure is because we are covering our eyes to the predator we are dead wrong.

There is no amount of “good” we can do, there is no amount of secrecy we can cover our sins with, to insulate ourselves. We cannot hide from a hunter and we will have no leg to stand on by telling Jesus that at least we tried.

So what are we supposed to do, since hiding is not an option?

We can watch for him.

That verse I just shared says “Be alert! Be self-controlled!”

Why?
Because when we are not is the time the prowling lion goes in for the kill.
The moment you stop watching, the moment you think you have insulated yourself, the moment you think you are above temptation, is the moment that if we could hear what’s happening in the spiritual realm we would hear the Bang, Bang, Bang.
I Cor. 10:12 says “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”
We are all susceptible.
We all have a predator.

But.

(Don’t you love whenever that happens!?)
But we are not totally like the deer:
We have been given armor; we have been given tools to fight back.
Read through Ephesians 6 today.

This battle (and don’t ever think it isn’t a raging battle) is not against flesh and blood. We do not fight as the world does, and we do not fight alone. We have One who took on the flesh and blood to win the spiritual fight for us, and win he did! He is the one who gives us this armor, he is the one who gained victory over the war, and he is the one who continues to fight for us.

Fight back? Yes we must because we are called to.

Fight alone? Never. (Exodus 14:14)
Don’t feel defeated—we are more than conquerors; just fight to maintain the victory.

And so, I hope these thoughts on deer season will give you new thoughts about the present Christmas season: Jesus didn’t come just to rescue the prey, Wolfies.  He came to kill the predator.