#OPYRIGHTEDMATERIAL · A Look at Life from a Deer Stand that I am already Your own. With an...

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Look at Life from a Deerstand Devotional.indd 1 3/31/09 11:45:59 AM

Copyrighted material

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture verses are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Italics in Scripture quotations indicate author emphasis.

Cover photo © Charles J. Alsheimer

Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

A LOOK AT LIFE FROM A DEER STAND DEVOTIONAL Some devotions adapted from Steve Chapman, With God on a Deer Hunt. Copyright © 2009 by Steve Chapman Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN: 978-0-7369-2548-8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in China

09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 / RDS-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1



ContentsJackson’s Wait 1. . . . . . . 7Life in the Leaf 2. . . . . . 11The Slap 3. . . . . . . . . . . 14The Farmer and 4. the Field . . . . . . . . . . 17Don’t Give In 5. . . . . . . 20The Grunt Call 6. . . . . . 23The Markings 7. . . . . . . 27Look Intently 8. . . . . . . 30The Oxygen Mask 9. . . 34In the Spotlight 10. . . . . 38When God Goes 11. Hunting . . . . . . . . . . 41The Drive-Through12. . .44The Watch 13. . . . . . . . . 48A Select Arrow 14. . . . . . 51A Sound like a 15. Frog . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Skin and Ink 16. . . . . . . 57The Snort 17. . . . . . . . . . 60Song of the Hunter 18. . . 63The Look 19. . . . . . . . . . 66What to Wear? 20. . . . . . 70Prime Time 21. . . . . . . . 74

Skipping in the 22. Dark . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Little Foxes and 23. Big Toenails . . . . . . 81Safety Belt 24. . . . . . . . 85Attacked! 25. . . . . . . . . 89Whiter Than 26. Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Popsicles 27. . . . . . . . . . 97The Trail 28. . . . . . . . . . 100Apple Seeds 29. . . . . . . 104Words 30. . . . . . . . . . . . 108And So They 31. Prayed . . . . . . . . . . . 112Fall Blend 32. . . . . . . . . 116Pick a Spot 33. . . . . . . . 119He Never Did 34. Anything . . . . . . . . 123Twice Amazed 35. . . . . 127Straight to the 36. Pantry . . . . . . . . . . . 130He Can, Can He? 37. . . 134Thanks, Adam! 38. . . . . 137Bottle and Book 39. . . . 141The Condo 40. . . . . . . . 144



Middle Seat 41. . . . . . . 148Guilty ’Til Proven 42. Innocent . . . . . . . . . 152Scoot Over 43. . . . . . . . 156Seize the Moment44. . . 160Leaves of Three, 45. Let It Be . . . . . . . . . 164Next Time 46. . . . . . . . 168Not Just Walking 47. . . 173The Shell 48. . . . . . . . . . 177Still Yielding 49. . . . . . . 181That Boy of Mine 50. . . 185The Bones Testify 51. . . 189The Comparison 52. . . 192The Strike 53. . . . . . . . . 195The Watcher 54. . . . . . . 199When the Wolf 55. Comes Near . . . . . .204Waking the 56. Dawn . . . . . . . . . . .207When I Hear that 57. Train . . . . . . . . . . . . 210The Ant War 58. . . . . . 214Gone Green 59. . . . . . . 219

Answers Require 60. Questions . . . . . . . .223

East and West 61. . . . . .226

Finish Well 62. . . . . . . .230

The Invitation 63. . . . . .234

The Web 64. . . . . . . . . . 238

Benny and Joe 65. . . . .243

Dancers and 66. Singers . . . . . . . . . .246

Follow the Blood 67. . . 250

Grease Is Cheaper 68. . . 253

I Wanna Go with 69. My Daddy . . . . . . . 256

Jack 70. . . . . . . . . . . . . .260

Just Two Words 71. . . .264

We Saw the 72. Evidence . . . . . . . . . 267

Hunting on 73. Credit . . . . . . . . . . . 272

A Country Boy 74. Testifies . . . . . . . . .277

What’s on Your 75. Mind? . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Lyric Credits . . . . . . 285



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1

Jackson’s Wait

Th is is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

Jackson is an inquisitive, fi ve-year-old neighbor boy who showed up one summer day in my backyard

as I was preparing to practice with my compound bow. “What ya doin’?” was the fi rst of a thousand questions.

As I removed my bow and arrows from the case, his eyes widened. I instructed him to stand safely behind me as I took a few shots. Stride for stride he followed me back and forth as I shot and retrieved my arrows. Th e conversation was endless. And this would not be the last time I would have company as I practiced that summer. I suspected that the seeds sown during our time together might someday yield a full-grown hunter.

Finally deer season arrived and, as I had prom-ised Jackson, I managed to deliver a load of venison to his family. As I stood in their kitchen describing



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A Look at Life from a Deer Stand

the hunt, Jackson was listening. The look on his face revealed a youthful hunger to go into the woods that demanded a response.

“Jackson, would you and your dad like to sit in a ground blind with me next week?”

He nearly passed out with excitement as he looked at his parents with that “Oh! Please don’t say no!” look. They didn’t refuse him, so we set a date and I went home. Little did I know what a dilemma I had created for their entire family. For days Jackson woke up and went to bed asking, “How much longer till I go hunting?” His dad described the torture to me later, and we had some chuckles over it. (At least I did.)

Having raised two children, I suppose I should have known better than to ask him so early. How-ever, time had erased the memory of what kids are like when they are intensely anticipating an event. Time creeps too slowly. Hours are weeks, and days are months. Jackson’s inability to wait patiently wore heavily on the nerves of everyone around him. I even got a taste of it whenever he showed up under our second floor patio: “We still goin’ huntin’, Mr. Chap-man?” He was relentless. He could be comforted only by one answer: “Sure are, little buddy!”

As grueling as the wait might have been for my



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young neighbor (and his family), there was something beautiful about it. Romans 8:19 states that creation itself “waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” Because of the distortion that sin brought into humanity’s relationship with God, the earth “groans” (not a complaining sound, but a sigh at the reality of living in a sinful world) for redemption. It longs to know the uncorrupted presence of those whose spirits belong to a holy God.

The day will come when all of creation—includ-ing our aching, aging bodies—will be set free from the slavery of deterioration. Until it comes to pass, there is only one hope that can comfort our anxious hearts. It is knowing that our spirits have already been redeemed as a result of another day that was eagerly anticipated—“when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us” (Titus 3:4-5). That was the greatest day the Lord ever made!

jOh, my blessed Redeemer, blessed be the day You appeared with salvation for the sons and daugh-ters of man. As I sit in the midst of creation and contemplate its longing for redemption, I rejoice



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that I am already Your own. With an anticipa-tion that rivals that of an excited child, I am waiting for You to come and restore this earth to Your glory. In Jesus, my Deliverer’s name, I pray. Amen.



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