Eat like it's gazelle?

Compliment my cute little purse and my eyes light up and I tell the story of one of my greatest shopping finds.  It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  My daughter in law and I were up before dawn to check out the sales and we were the only ones in the store!  It was great-no crowds, no hassle and the sales clerks were enjoying it.  The circumstances enabled me to find my cute little purse at a great price. 

This is the closest experience I have to hunting.  I pondered hunting when I saw the same phrase twice in Deuteronomy chapter 12.  God tells the Israelites to eat the meat from their herds and flocks as if it were "gazelle or deer."  I wondered what that meant.  I have eaten a bit of deer but never gazelle.  I am not a hunter and like to  think that my meat grows up from the ground cushioned in white styrofoam and wrapped in cellophane!

But God said it twice in the midst of the rules for how to live in a new land.  The Israelites were about to settle into the Promised Land.  It would be a way of life very different from the life they had known.  They had been wanderers and hunters.  Soon they would live in towns and grow crops and herds.

Gazelle and deer must have represented a great experience, the surprise and satisfaction of the successful hunt.  I am not a hunter but my outsider observation is  there is some hard work to hunting and a bit of luck.  You have to have the right equipment and know the environment  to be successful.  You have to be patient and persistent.  Yet, the animals have a mind of their own and you are never positive there will be deer or gazelle.  So when you are successful you can take some credit in your success but there is also a measure  of luck and blessing.

This made me think about how I face my day.  Is my attitude one of being ready to follow God, to be sure I am equipped with His guidance for the day?  Do I do my best to follow God, such that at the end of the day I will have the satisfaction of knowing I did my best to show the world "I follow God"?  Do I delight in the surprise of God's blessings and provisions even as I know God is faithful and will deliver His promises?

It's a good way to face the challenges of the unknown of  the day, to be prepared and surprised by God.  So let's go live today like we're eating deer and gazelle.  (I hope it tastes like chicken!)