Outdoor Truths

This week’s article is an excerpt from my new book; Devotions from a Hunting, Fishing, Sports Father to His Son. I offer it in light of the Colorado shootings.

Guard Your Heart and Your Gun Will be Fine

Mark 7: ²¹For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²²adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. ²³All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God.”

Son, a lot of folks don’t understand people who hunt and fish. To them we are unlearned and barbaric (sort of like a caveman). They think that we just go out and kill stuff and have no heart or feelings toward animals. Some will even go out of their way to make all hunting illegal. What’s funny is they think if I have a gun in my home, that I’m an irresponsible parent. Most of the time, you will not be able to convince these people any different. It won’t matter how fair you are or how kind you are to them, or even how educated you are, they will still spew out hateful and mostly ignorant points of view.

For some reason many people think that a good citizen surely would not own a gun and that we must live with some sort of uneasy fear about the environment we live in. They only say that because they have never known our lifestyle.

Ever since you were born, you have witnessed some type of gun in our house. I used the same principles that I used with everything else, to teach you about dangerous things…..Don’t stick any object in an electrical outlet, it could kill you. Don’t play with matches, you could burn the house down and someone could die. Don’t drink anything that you’re not sure what it is. It could kill you. Don’t take anything that’s in the medicine cabinet, it could kill you. And don’t play with guns. Someone could die.

It really wasn’t brain surgery. You understood that there are many things in this world that could cause great harm, but each one is also a tool and some are even essential to our lives.

            The truth is, bad people will always find a way to do bad things and good people will find a way to do good things. Being good or bad does not come from what we hold in our hands but what we hold dear in our heart. Make sure that your heart is right with God and then whatever you hold in your hands will be used for good – whether it’s a dollar or a gun.

Prayer: “Lord, teach my son to love even those who don’t understand him, and to have a right heart.”