Jan 26, 2011
McMinnville, Oregon
But if
from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with
all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
This
year I was drawn for the Willamette
Valley extra deer tag.
This extended season tag runs until the end of February. It is what we
Oregonians call a “hair tag” meaning if it is “brown it is down”. Furthermore
this tag runs through the heart of the rut, and even though it is a hair tag my
sights will be set on a trophy Blacktail. After more than a dozen times in the
filed I have seen no bucks, a handful of does and my once trophy ideal has
diminished greatly. Heck, most of the bucks are losing their antlers by now! I
will shoot anything if it’s brown, boom, it’s down.
Have
you noticed men love to dream? We love to talk about our trophies before they
are ever seen. Like my son James likes
to say, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”
That
could be a hunter’s motto.
Each
hunting season, football season, or season of choice begins with high hopes of
bragging rights and trophies, but more often these dreams get reduced to an
attitude of “If its brown its down”, or “If it flies it dies.”
Desperation
will cause a man to say and do things that are out of character. Desperation is
one of God’s tools to win the hearts of men. Desperation will lead a man to the
God who promises, “You will seek me and
find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Sadly,
however men will often seek worthless God’s that offer a false hope. Trophies
such as a successful career, lots of toys and a life pursuing luxury are
nothing more than false gods when put ahead of Jesus. In Deuteronomy 4:28 God tells Israel, “There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone,
which neither see nor hear nor eat nor swell.”
God
does not need men to seek His face. He does not need your “weak sauce” prayers
formed out of rote, guilt and religion. He does not need you at all! He is not
and never will be desperate and as such does not want your polite prayers.
Did you
catch that? God, unlike what we are told in pulpits across America, does
not need you. He does not want you to seek Him. He wants you to seek Him with
all your heart
All of
it.
