Lessons from A Trophy Part II

I knew I had just shot the biggest buck of my life, and I merely needed to give it time. As I sat there enjoying the moment, the sad part entered my thinking as I reminded myself of the lesson that the rutting buck teaches. It is the lesson illustrated in the sobering story of Proverbs 7. The author of the proverb observes a young man, full of vigor and strength. For all the power and potential he possesses, however, he is void of wisdom. He is concerned about his belongings, his status, and his reputation, but for all his appearances of invincibility, he has left his heart unguarded. Somewhere along the line, he has traded holiness for hormones. He is exposed, and it doesn’t take much. He is enticed by a woman, but the real lure is simply the base desire of a lust processed into sin. Sin makes you stupid, and the affect of that stupidity on his thought process is profound. He no longer reasons, his awareness is dull, and even his sense of self-preservation is so diminished that he willingly throws all caution to the wind. He follows his lusts, and as the proverb states, he goes “as an ox to the slaughter, or as the fool to the correction of the stocks (v. 22).

Sitting there in that hunting blind, I shuttered, and it was not for the chill of the day. The shudder going through me was the conclusion of the proverb as I remembered the ending of the proverb: “He goes after her straightway….. until an arrow strikes through his liver- as a bird hasteneth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life”.(. vv. 22- 24)

His life? No, the stakes could not have been that high. It was merely an impulse. It was a desire, and a need for that desire to be fulfilled. He was just looking for a little fun- a little action. His life? His life? He forfeited his life for that? Why? How?

As usual, a clear answer never came to the forefront, but it once again started within me an investigation of sorts into my own life. I could never do that, could I? I would never forfeit my life- my wife, my family, my career, my reputation- for that sort of recklessness, would I?

Each time I reflect on the lesson and each glance I take at that trophy, my suspicion grows. I am suspicious of myself. I just might. Would it be anything but pride that would say it would never happen? Would it be anything but foolishness to live as if it couldn’t happen to me? I have reached a biblical conclusion: I can’t be trusted- only God can. While the “heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9), a young man can “cleanse his ways” only through the guidance of God’s Word in his heart (Ps. 119:9-11). In almost a panic, my senses are alert. I must pray that I fall not into temptation. I must guard my heart with all diligence, for out of it comes all that I am and do (Prov. 4:23). Passions and desires are a part of me. I can never be rid of them. I don’t want to be rid of them. At the same time, I do not want to be ruled by them. I do not want to be slain by them, and so I must guard, pray, and always remember that there are commandments and warnings because there are dangers.

It is the lesson of the rutting buck, and, though I hope I should move on to bigger trophies and more exciting hunts, I hope I should never move away from the wisdom that I remembered once again that day- with the help of those 3 girls. It’s a nice buck, but its more like a lesson than a trophy.