Truly Needed
About fifteen minutes later, I saw my partner coming towards camp without his pack full of meat. He was angry and upset. We had ATV's, but we had camped at the edge of a 'walk-in only' area. He said, "I'm going to take my ATV in and get the rest of that meat." We had a lunch cooler with Pepsi on ice. I handed him a Pepsi and said, "You'll feel better in a little while." Twenty minutes later he walked back down the trail to get his meat. He'd had the presence of mind to shrug the pack off on a large boulder so that he didn't have to lift it off the ground.
I didn't offer to help with his half of the moose, but I had a good reason. As a man, I knew that he would be ashamed of the fact that I had carried all of mine and half of his. I knew that when he told the story to others, he would be proud of the fact that he had 'carried his own weight.' Sometimes in life, 'helping others' isn't help at all. If the last fifty years has taught us anything, welfare and food stamps doesn't help people. It discourages men from marrying the mothers of their children, and it discourages everyone from going to work.
This is why God says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10,, "If a man does not work, he shall not eat." Be compassionate and generous, but also be wise. Offer help quickly and freely when it is truly needed, and you will be blessed! -Pastor Brad
Written on July 1, 2026
Posted in Daily Devotions