Hunting

Everything that lives and moves will be food for you.  – Genesis 9:3 NIV

I was once asked by a young man in a class of Russian students how I could hunt and be a Christian. I had just shown them some pictures of our family and some of me with a deer I had shot with my son that fall. “Good question,” I said.

The Bible teaches that God has given us all the animals for our food. If it is a cow that ends up as a Big Mac at McDonald’s or on your grill, or a wild deer that you bring home, these are some of the ways that God said He would provide food for us.

My good friend Richard with a buck he harvested with me.

It is not a sin to hunt or fish. I told the young Russian man that it is not right to waste animals or to kill just to kill. My family enjoys eating the venison and the fish that I bring home. They are both healthy foods. I told them that I am also conservationist and a firm believer in protecting our environment and managing our resources now and for our grandchildren.

I think it is wise to teach our children these principles. “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, men who... advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:1‑5).

God has “richly supplied us with all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). Therefore, enjoy!