Weekly Devotion June 17 2024

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission

Bible Study Verse: Jeremiah 7:23 NIV “But I gave them this command; Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.” Jeremiah 7:23 NLT “This is what I told them: Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well. 

Thoughts: It was Oct 1 in the beautiful mountains of northwestern Wyoming. Overnight we had gotten up to 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground. The sky was pitch black. The stars were shining brightly. We fed the horses before saddling them. We were looking forward to an exciting day of elk hunting. My son and I looked at each other and we just knew we would kill elk today. The conditions were perfect! There was no wind, fresh snow, a clear sky, everything you dream about for elk hunting. My son had the license. I was there to help because he had injured his knee. We started out at daybreak, and within 10 minutes, we saw two bulls which he passed on. We kept going. Within an hour, we saw a 330-class bull in the distance, but he gave us the slip. A few hours later my son harvested his 350-class bull at 75 yards. 

Action Points That morning, as we were drinking our coffee in the chill of the wall tent, we just knew we would get a big elk that day. We just had that feeling. Sometimes, God puts thoughts, ideas, and feelings into us, but do we always listen? Or obey? That day I did. I listened to the direction he told me to take and success was achieved. Do I always do that? NOPE. I am working on that, to listen for God’s direction in my life. It takes a lot of work and dedication to be Christ-like. We are pulled in many different directions in our life. I encourage you to take 15 minutes each day to read a couple of daily devotions or read a chapter in the bible. It will help you to have a better attitude and a clearer direction in life. 

Sportsman Tip of the Day: To be successful in hunting, one must be prepared, both mentally and physically. You need to do the research to find the best areas to go. Study your maps, talk with biologists, look at research on the subject, look at success data, age data, population information, etc. All of this changes, based on disease, winter kill, and over harvest. Forums can be a source but be careful. There is a lot of bad information on them as well as good.