Target practice

Target Practice

"without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" Hebrews 12:14b-15(NIV)

One definition i've heard of sin is to 'miss the mark' and one definition I like to use of is that sin is 'anything that comes between or before God'. Sin can be an act or an attitude. It can be something we say, do, think, or feel. Missing the mark implies that God is the bullseye and when we fall short or fail we miss the goal.

I got a new bow(it's really used, but new to me, thanks TJ), but i'm just now getting around to using it. I had to buy new arrows and add new equipment to prepare the bow to shoot. Part of that equipment is adding a sight. A sight is the pins you use to aim with, to put on the target. You set pins at different yardage to give you an estimate of distance to the target.
If God is the target and we are aiming to be like Him or honor Him, then we are the archer and how we set our sights and on what does matter in this life.

If we do not have focus, we are going to miss the mark. If we have our our life pointed in the wrong direction we are going to miss the mark. If we do not have our sight set accurately, we are going to miss the mark. If we just try to guess our way through life and not make adjustments toward God we are going to miss the mark.

To sight in my bow, I must practice, make adjustments, measure the yardage, and keep moving the pins until I am on target and being consistent. Living a life that seeks God is the same way.
You can't be a healthy, growing, mature, and faithful Christian if you are guessing your way through life. If you are just aiming at anything and everything. If you settle on a less accurate life. If there are obstacles in the way of the target you aren't going to hit the mark.

So many people in this world, want to gamble with eternity. They want to say they believe in God, go to church, and/or don't kill or hurt people so they think goodness is going to get them in Heaven. Eternity is not about our goodness, but God's. Salvation is free, but at a cost. We can freely receive God's grace by repenting, seeking, and giving our lives to God and being baptized, but that is only the beginning.

Once we accept God, we must begin to set our sights, make adjustments, and set our sights on God. Just like sports, music, or any hobby, you must practice, gain discipline, and strive to become proficient or you will fail and fall short. Christian faith is the same way. We must Aim for God or we'll miss Him every time.