The sun never sets on a day that I have not thought about hunting. This is not an exaggeration. I put a tremendous amount of thought, time, energy, money, and work into hunting, bowhunting specifically. It is an important part of my life and I cherish it. Hunting has carried me to peaks of incredible joy and satisfaction, and also dropped me into valleys of heartbreaking pain and disappointment. Any pursuit that requires much sacrifice from us has this effect.
Many of you will identify with this and, perhaps, like me, you have taken your love of hunting too far at times, turning a healthy and positive passion, into a harmful and negative obsession. In my younger days, I unknowingly fell into the trap of wanting bowhunting to take up the most space in my identity. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but deep down I wanted to be recognized as a great bowhunter, after all, my last name is “Bowman”. I had lost sight of what really Mattered in life. It was a failure on my part to keep my pride in its proper position, crushed beneath my humility. I didn’t have the spiritual maturity to realize that my priorities were out of order. I was hunting for the wrong thing and hunting had become an idol.
Despite many humbling and enlightening experiences later, this temptation remains and must be put under the knife periodically. Many of you, if you’re honest with yourselves, will know what I’m talking about. It’s not something that just happens to hunters, it’s the temptation of every man to feed his pride, to take matters in his own hands and take the credit. Eventually I realized that the room behind pride’s door is empty, vacant, and lonely. On the day when my strength has left me completely, my personal accomplishments, hunting or otherwise, will not matter apart from those done in pursuit of the One that Matters. Today, tomorrow, and forever, I want to Hunt what Matters, I want to be about His Business, I want to Hunt for Him. I want to be a “capital H” Hunter.
The surprising truth is that when First things are put first, second things aren’t diminished, they are increased. Far from losing my “lowercase h” hunting on earth, I’ve experienced a much more fulfilling and deeper enjoyment than ever before. I now hunt without pressure and expectation. By letting go of hunting, I finally found it. The same is true with everything in my life. When I Hunt for Him above all else, I find a healthier marriage and better relationships with my children, I find that I am more, not less, myself. I’ve learned that to Hunt for Him and His desires for me, I have to give up control of my life. I have to want what He wants because what He wants is what Matters, and it is what will bring me true satisfaction. Just as a seed must go through a death and burial in the earth before it springs to life, the selfish part of my soul must die in order for me to come alive. This death must be repeated quite often, and like any death, it is painful. I must die by my own choosing when I’m tempted to hunt for the wrong things, the things of this world. I’ve learned that by willingly crushing my selfish pride and laying down my life, I find the pure, free, and true life I was made to live waiting for me. Lose it to find it. Kill it to bring it to life. Lay it down to pick it up.
Hunting is a wonderfully useful metaphor for pursuing Him. It requires denying one’s immediate comfort, intense dedication, and singularity of purpose. In hunting, we must learn in depth the nature of the creature we pursue if we are to be successful. It is not an easy undertaking, in fact, it can feel almost impossible at times. If we are successful hunters, the creature will sustain our physical lives for a while. If we are successful Hunters, He will sustain our souls forever.
I’m reminded of an old hymn written by John Cennick in 1743 that begins:
Jesus, my all, to Heaven is gone,
He whom I fix my hopes upon;
His track I see, and I’ll pursue
The narrow way, till Him I view.
I want to pursue His tracks. He has given us sign to follow and show us the way, but it is not always easy or obvious. I want to find and follow His faint and righteous track, the narrow and difficult trail, not the wide and easy path. I won’t experience a close encounter with my quarry by stumbling carelessly through the wilderness. I’ll find the wilderness sure enough, but not the cherished prize at the end of the track. Nor will I find Him with an unintentional and undisciplined life, I’ll find the world. I want the heart of a Hunter and I want to Hunt what Matters. I want to be on the Hunt every second of every day, I want to Hunt for Him.