Good morning. Growing up in northern Minnesota meant that hunting was a way of life, at least that was the case for many people, the Harris family included. The deer season was usually the highlight of the annual hunting schedule, but small game and waterfowl were also eagerly pursued when their seasons arrived. When it was fishing season, we usually had a specific species in mind, but it was always understood that it was a mixed bag, and the same lure or bait could catch several kinds of fish. That wasn’t true of hunting. In hunting you have a specific target, you hunt in specific habitat, and you shoot a specific firearm or weight of bow. Your pursuit is very focused and particular.
I would like to draw your attention today to a particular verse of scripture which uses a hunting idea to express its truth:
Whoever pursues righteousness and love
finds life, treasure and honor. Proverbs 21:21
When we read the word “pursuit” or “pursues” it is a hunting reference. When the object of our hunt is righteousness and love…these are your likely results. When your hunt is for righteousness and love the result isn’t the end of something, it is life. When we are pursuing righteousness and love we are promised that treasure and honor are our reward.
We find another reference to the importance of righteousness and love in Proverbs 3:3
Let Righteousness and love never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Please consider the importance of prioritizing righteousness and love in your life today. Don’t think of them as something you hope to stumble upon, or something you hope to be given. We are to pursue them, and that means that we hunt for them as we go through our day. We look in the right places, we are prepared to embrace them when we find them, and once found we will hold them dear as treasures from the Lord. Once we find them, we claim them, and will write them on the tablet of your heart.
May your hunt be successful, and your reward be the treasure our Lord desires for your life.
Vern