Chasing Skinny Rabbits

The Tale was that it had been seen again, the big stag with its mighty antlers had been spotted. Where, who, or when no one knew the rumor was it was seen again. No one really knew where it was because not a soul could be found that had ever really seen it clearly. Oh there was the old man down at the end of town who had said he had seen it several times but that had been when he had drank too much from the bottle hidden under his bed. The woman up the lane on the mountain said she had seen it but she too was known for some potions she mixed up. Really no one had ever seen it clear enough to say what it really looked like but time and legend had made the great stag bigger than life in the minds of almost everyone in the village.

So tonight they all set around the camp fire cleaning their guns and gazing into the flames. Each man dreamed about him and his dogs striking the trail and finding the great stag. Each believed if he could catch it he would be happy the rest of his days. Each believed that if he was the one to capture the great stag he would have all he had sought for in his seemingly meaningless life. Each man longed and hoped he would one day catch the elusive prize then would all their troubles and problem go away. So there that night each man set dreaming about his life if he could catch the great stag.

Morning came and each man took his prized hounds and started out after the hope, the dream, the fix once again. Each spent energy and effort looking, hoping for the break. One such man separated from the rest and slipped off into the river bottom because he felt in his soul this was it, sure enough his hounds hit a special scent and the race was off. Hope and excitement like a high leaped into his life, this was it he thought!

Another man breaking from the group crept up the high mountain. He felt in his soul this was where the great stag lived. Then sure enough his hounds found a fresh trail and the race was on. Excitement and expectation grabbed his emotions, hope and excitement pushed into his feeling, this is it he thought!

Yet another man slipped away from the group and off into the swamp because he knew in his heart this was where the big stag lived. As luck would have it his hounds struck a fresh track and the race was on. This is it he though, this is the dream, it’s what I hoped for I will finally reached what I been looking for, life will finally be worth living. Excitement grabbed his heart and surged through his mind to blotting all common sense. This is it he thought! This time will be different.

Each chased after his hounds. Each ran until they were out of breath. Each man’s hope was that maybe this was it and that hope pushed him to his limits.

Then the man that was chasing along the river, when he was on his last breath seemingly saw something moving through the fog. That’s it he thought and with hound screaming raced after what he thought was the stag. The man on the mountain spotted something moving through the mist and knew he had found the stag and with his hounds on their last leg he raced after what he saw. The man in the swamp caught a glimpse of moment through the haze with his lungs screaming for a break he raced on knowing he had finally found the great stag.

Each ran, hoped, believed, and reached for what they thought would be their answer this time.

The man along the river rounded a large tree beside a huge bank and cornered his quarry. The man on the mountain ran into a cleft of a rock and caught his victim. The man deep in the swap ran his chase into an old hollowed place and caught his prey.

Then as each man looked, after all the dreams, after all the hope, after all the wasted life and effort each man realized, it was only a skinny rabbit. No prize, no hope, no good life.

Each man lay there empty, alone, broken, and breathless, feelings were gone, and questions of why pounded in their head. This was not how it was supposed to end, there really has to be more to this thing called life. It’s all just skinny rabbits!  

In first John chapter 2, the apostle picks up his pen and starts a letter to the churches. There are many days behind him now. He is old and has seen much come and go. He now is the only disciple of Jesus that hasn’t died a martyr’s death. He has lived in younger days, been tempted to chase after the man-made prizes of life but now from the advantage of an old man he understands it’s only skinny rabbit’s. He has been boiled in oil. He has been banished to an island called Patmos that was full of prisoners. Yet, now life finds him finishing up the last three books we have from him. Age has given him wisdom and wonderful relationship with Jesus has blessed his life. He seems to stand and look back down the road of life. He see all the attempts to distract us, he sees all the events that can bring failure in the Lord. He sees the things that easily become gods in our life things that take our focus, rob our life, and take our commitments and dedication. He sees the places where we chase and lose our lives. He sees the things that take our passion and leaves us uncommitted and empty, lost in some dark hollow of life wasted after all the chasing. It is from this advantage point that the Apostle John writes in 1^st John 2:15-17.

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world.

17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. NIV

In other words, the things of this life, this world that you are chasing it’s just a skinny rabbit!

But seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness… (Matthew 6:33) Because those who do the will of God live forever.