“1. JUDGE not, that ye be not judged. 2. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
The word mote is defined as a small particle; or even a splinter. The word beam is something much larger; any large piece of timber, long in proportion to its thickness, and squared, or hewed for use. You can look at this context with two different perspectives. One might be a hard minded Pharisee that is quick to point a finger at every wrong thing another person does, but it could even be viewed as one that simply has a desire to help others but can’t find victory over faults in their own life. It’s always easy to see the small faults in the life of a friend, spouse, or child, but what we fail to admit sometimes is that the problem in our own life is much bigger.
The Lord has placed a heavy burden on my heart to connect with hunters and fisherman with gospel of Jesus Christ and help them get established in the local New Testament Church. Hunting and fishing has become a god to many people around the world. The Bible says these sportsmen will die and go to hell without Jesus Christ. The hunting industry has driven sportsmen to dream about killing a big one, 365 days a year. Whether season is open or not, its all about growing the right food plot, trail camera’s, and having more land or more leases. Not only does this keep people from coming to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, but it also hinders many believers in their walk with God. “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.” (Genesis9:2-3) As Noah steps off the ark, God makes the animals wild and then says, “…shall be meat for you…” One thing that is very certain in the Bible is that hunting and fishing is not sinful, but just as Satan always does, he tries to get man to worship the things God blesses us with, rather than worship our Creator.
As an avid outdoorsman, I have had seasons of my life when I was backslidden on God and the only thing that mattered was how many rabbits I was going to shoot, how many deer tags I could fill, and how many places I could turkey hunt. I don’t obsess the way I use too, at least I try not to! Over the last 10 years I have had to learn how to balance my life a little differently. Less focus on hunting and more on serving God. I must say that with the right balance God has still blessed tremendously. Many successes and many lifelong memories with friends and family.
I have a great desire to see sportsmen have the proper balance in their life, but how could I possibly help others, if I can’t have the right balance myself. This recent season I have found myself thinking about deer season way more than I should. I have realized that some days I have obsessed more with getting to the stand, than to stop and share the gospel with a lost hunter. Some days it’s like there is one foot in and one foot out. You pass out a tract on your way by, but you surely won’t stop and talk because your agenda is much more important. I am guilty that there are seasons in my life like this. How do you have victory over these struggles when in past years God has blessed so abundantly with success?
The extended two-day gun weekend in Ohio just ended. I had every intention to hunt the full day on Saturday, but there has been a battle raging within. As much as I desired to be in the woods that day, I knew it was best to take a break. Wait, but it’s the last day to use your rifle for another year. That doesn’t matter! What matters is keeping Jesus Christ at the center of your life! Rather than go hunting I spent a good part of the day driving back roads and hitting public areas in search for hunters that needed the gospel. What a great day it was! There were not a lot of hunters out, but there were plenty enough to share the gospel with at almost every stop. Two young men even called upon the Lord to be saved that day!
How can a preacher get up and preach on self-control if he gorges himself at the dinner table every day? How could he possibly preach on loving your wife like you love yourself when all he does is boss around his wife all day? How can a fellow believer invite his friend to come to church when he won’t even show up on Sunday night? “And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39) We are all good at casting judgement, but we first must examine our own life. God truly wants us to help others, but we must first make sure the beam is not in our own eye! Are lost souls a top priority in your prayer life? Have you shared gospel with anyone lately? Could it be that, “…first cast out the beam out of thine own eye…”? We all need to stop and let God examine our hearts. What is distracting us from being used of the LORD in a mightier way? What is it that we may need to take a break from? There may not be one person in your life that knows of the inner battle going on, but you know, and God knows! I would encourage you to find a quiet place, be honest with yourself, and ask God to help you!
Memory Verse
Matthew 7:5
“Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
A good reminder sir.
Thanks for keeping the Main the the Main thing.