Deer Dilemma

Ezo deer are only found in Hokkaido, the large northern island of Japan which is known for its agriculture, open expanses and harsh winters. The males can weigh more than 150 kg (330 lbs), and are the large subspecies of the Japanese Sika deer that weighs a mere 40–70 kg (88–154 lb). Ezo deer primarily eat sugar beets and wheat, inflicting an estimated ¥3 billion a year in crop damage.

Ezo deer are on the increase and blamed for about 60 percent of all the railway troubles of Japan Rail Hokkaido. They claim that deer strikes in fiscal 2012 alone caused 2,600 cases of delays or suspensions of service, a fourfold increase from fiscal 2002. In 2013, JR Hokkaido experienced only five days free of deer problems.

Railroad workers have tried everything from flashing lights, whistles that emit ultrasonic waves and tossing around lion excrement to make the deer think that dangerous predators were lurking nearby.

The Railroad Company even hung bars of soap around the tracks on the theory that deer would shy away from artificial scents. Before any conclusions about the strategy could be drawn, crows flew away with the soap.

Recently a device was introduced that sounded a lion’s roar and a deer’s alarm call, along with flashing bright LED lights in four colors, when it sensed deer in the vicinity. Officials say that these methods have had no effect.
JR Hokkaido’s relentless struggle with the Ezo deer reminds us of the intense struggle we as Christians sometimes have to rid our lives of sin. Paul describes his personal struggle with sin in Romans 7-

¹⁸For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

¹⁹For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Without Christ we can do nothing–but with Christ and powered by the Holy Spirit after salvation we can escape the sins that easily beset us. Hebrew 12:1b-let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
If you are not saved yet, John 3:16, 17 is the answer–

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.