The Greater Gift

And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised

Hebrews 11:39


As is my habit, I review the outline of my pastor’s message from Sunday morning in my quiet time through the week. I figure he’s heard from the Lord and I need to hear what the Lord’s point is. I generally read through the context of the passage. This Sunday Bishop preached through the greater part of Hebrews 12 with the emphasis on our discipline from the Lord. The text was Hebrews 12:3-17.

It is not uncommon that Holy Spirit will hook me into the first verse I read. That happened today. How many people receive a promise from the Lord and never see the fulfillment while in the body. Isn’t odd that the Lord would give someone a promise and then not let them see the fulfillment of it? It almost seems cruel. What is He doing?

The context would suggest that Father is giving them a greater gift then the original promise. His word is true and it will be fulfilled. Nothing returns to Him void. But He doesn’t necessarily promise that we will see it in our life times. The greater gift is the refinement of their souls. Father is more concerned about my development than He is about giving me all the goodies. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t want to bless us. I am tremendously blessed. I was reading recently how Father told Abraham that He was going to make his name great so that he could be a blessing. I believe it is an entire package. With that said, sometimes we go without in the immediate so that we don’t have to go without when it counts the most.

These models of faith spoken of in Hebrews 11 longed to see the promise (and they did), but gained something far greater in the approval from their Father and God. Then, in us, they gained the promise: but God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect. Hebrews 11:40

We are the fulfillment of what Father promised them. Not just us, but our relationship with Father through Jesus and all that entails. We exist and experience Jesus because of their faith. It is a perpetual faith passed on from one to the next. We will pass it on to our children of faith. Who will in turn perfect our faith. They will validate our faith in the living God. Some will scoff and excuse us as foolish but He has the last word. It doesn’t matter if we see it in our time frame or not. Our only expectation is Jesus. We give Him our hearts.

Opening Day

It was a rush early opening day. I had misjudged how long it would take to get in my spot deep into the woods before light. This was the first time I didn’t set up in a tree stand. It’s funny that I had not thought of this before since I hunt turkeys sitting on the ground. Indians didn’t sit in a tree to hunt deer. So I set up on top of a ridge with my face to the wind, which blew along at about a 10 mph clip. The ridge behind me was pretty steep and I didn’t figure a deer would come up that way. The passage way to my left was more natural and figured I could ambush a deer passing top of the ridge. The temperature was a bit chilly early in the morning but warmed up as the day progressed. At one point, I considered breaking out my hand warmers.

Once positioned, I settled into a relaxed state. There is nothing like the woods that can quiet my soul. It’s God’s way of speaking to me through nature. I can sit still for quite a long time drinking it in. Similar to a cow chewing its cud, I turn over and over in my mind the solitude and peace of the place and moment. My favorite moment of the morning is when the night animals retire for the day and the diurnal creatures awaken.

There were not as many squirrels out opening morning so when I heard a rustling in the leaves coming up the ridge in front of me my heart started to race a bit and I clicked off the safety on my gun. It didn’t sound like the rustling of a squirrel. It was too heavy and consistent for that. Then I heard a cluck and knew it was a turkey. With my gun back on safety, I listened to a number of turkeys scratch and cluck approximately 30 feet in front of me. I couldn’t see them because they were just over the ridge behind some brush. It would have been fun to listen to them if I weren’t so frustrated that I had hunted several times during turkey season the month before and never saw one turkey. Actually, I grew quite frustrated thinking that I wouldn’t see a deer yet see 13 turkeys by 8:10 a.m. And they were noisy. If it had been a turkey hunter calling I would have told him that he was calling way too much. They seemed to go on forever, clucking and cackling and even gobbling. Had it been turkey season I could have got my limit with one shot.

After the turkeys passed and a few more passed and then in the distance three more passed I was feeling a little restless having sat in the same position with little movement for a couple of hours. I decided to move over the ridge about a quarter the way down. That way, I could see the whole bottom area. I hadn’t been set up for 15 to 20 minutes when a good sized buck came meandering along near the bottom at about 100 yards away. My heart was racing as I clicked off the safety and raised my gun. You could see my heart beating while looking through the sites as it jumped with each beat.

I’m familiar with buck fever having experienced it several times with each resulting in a deer prancing hurriedly along mocking me as he went. I console myself with lies: “That’s ok. I’ll get one next time.” and “I just love being in the woods.” Too many times have I offered lead sacrifices to mother earth.

I took a deep breathe and steadied myself. Just then I lost the deer in a thicket. Restlessly I scanned the area for sight of this monster buck. A sigh of relief was released when he appeared on the other side coming up the ridge about 75 to 80 yards away. I calmly sited in his vital organ area and squeezed the trigger.

My gun is a 30/30 Winchester. The perfect deer rifle for the kind of terrain I like to hunt in. I’ve hunted over bean and corn fields but feel kind of naked without a lot of trees and rougher terrain around. My rifle has a bit of a creep when you pull the trigger. Initially, I thought it was me bracing for the recoil but as I dry fired to get used to the trigger pull, I noticed that it naturally does this. Sited in at 35 yards it pulls over and up about and inch or so. Something I hadn’t considered is that the farther the bullet goes the wider the creep. Opening day, I was so excited that I forgot about the creep all together and didn’t adjust for it. Recoil wasn’t a problem for the excitement takes care of that too.

I sat quietly for a minute after I shot watching for the deer. It had gone down once I shot but I couldn’t see it from where I was sitting. I reset the safety and engaged the lever action. The empty cartridge was a little warm as I placed it in my pocket. Slowly I got up and started moving toward the downed buck. Once in view of the deer, I could see his back legs kicking like he was trying to run, but this didn’t last long and he was still. I approached him from behind and poked his back with my gun. He was still and no movement from his lung cavity. It was then I counted the tines – 12 points. This is the largest deer I’ve ever taken. But then it occurred to me that I had to pull him up out of the ravine.

He felt like he weighed 400 pounds as I pulled him 20 yards at a time to the top of the hill. Then once on the top, I had to clear the road which was victim to last year’s ice storm. I hadn’t cleared it during spring turkey season because I knew my buddy Kevin wasn’t coming and there was no need. Now it was necessary in order to drive my truck down the lane to pick up the deer. The deer was so heavy and I was so tuckered out that I had to field dress him on the spot before I could get him into the back of the truck.

I’ve enjoyed telling the story of opening day several times. It adds to the experience. When I relayed the story to a friend at church he gave me a hug. So many experiences we have privately. At best we tell them to others, recalling the details years later with the same excitement as if it happened a few days ago. But I write it as a gift to my children and grandchildren so that they may recall me who will be a part of them and they won’t have to wonder.