A Focused Buck
John Miller
11/22/21
- Windstream Mail
R E F L E C T I O N S Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith - 11/22/21 ____________________________________________________________________ "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?" - James 4:1 |
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This nice buck appeared on our property recently in the middle of the day and allowed me to take several images of him without any notice of what I was doing. Why would a mature deer who normally would confine itself to parts of the woods far away from human activity and only venture out under the cover of darkness suddenly change its behavior so radically? The answer can be found in just one word - lust. The fall rut was on and this buck was focused only on its raging passions. The swelling of the buck's neck and the creation of several scrapes on our property were all signs that caution was gone and passion had replaced sanity. There is a reason hunting season occurs during the rut. The deer have all let their guard down. Bucks run after does in places and at times that they would never do normally. Fights among bucks break out when otherwise there would be harmony. At this time, passion dictates behavior. Humans are no different, except our passions rule us all year long. However, lust doesn't confine itself to just sexuality in humans. We also lust after possessions, status, and dominance. And, if we do get what we lust after, the end result is pride. Pride, as scripture constantly reminds us, is a root cause of all manner of other sins. It is true, there is a war within all of us, especially within Christians. Do we follow what God dictates, or do we follow our own lusts? Passion can be either good or bad, it all depends on who or what we are passionate about. The Christian life is a war. We like to think the war is primarily against an enemy without, but it is really against an enemy within. Fight the good fight. God will reward those those whose passion is God himself. - John
