Are You Going on any Bear Hunts in the New Year?

When my kids were younger the choice bedtime book was We’re Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. The classic book describes a family going through the elements of nature in search of a bear. On hiking trips we would turn the story into a fun game of searching for an imaginary bear. We have been chased by bears. But mostly our occasions were spent hunting bears.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you do something crazy and ask yourself in retrospect, “what was I thinking?” As a family hunting our imaginary bear, I tell myself this is crazy. Normal people don’t chase bears, they run away from them. But we also discover that the biggest risks bring the greatest opportunities. The greatest opportunities are the largest bears. I’m not a risk taker, but I have realized that taking no risks is the greatest risk of all.

God-given opportunities can be disguised as blood-thirsty bears. How we react when we encounter those bears will determine our destiny. We can cower in fear and run away from our greatest challenges. Or we can chase our God ordained purpose and seize it for all its worth.

Religious folks speak of sins of commission and omission. Sins of commission are those made up of the list of don’ts. The church spends a lot of energy on the sins of commission. However, there is also the sin of omission. This is those things that we should have and could have done. Just because you don’t do anything wrong does not mean that you actually have done anything right. Goodness is not the absent of badness. Sometimes we are called to go on a bear hunt. Go after opportunities. If we are going to discover our God-given purpose, live our God-given life, and use our God-given gifts we must be willing to chase the bears. Our greatest regrets in life will be missed opportunities. As you set out to make resolutions, ask yourself, “What bears in your life need to be chased?” What opportunities need to be taken? Let’s go into the New Year boldly declaring, “I’m going on a bear hunt, I’m going to catch a big one!”