Saturday May 16, 2020

Your Daily Dose of Inspiration:

Knowing these things is good and helpful. For if we are able to recognize these things for what they are, we will be better able to aim for that target of relationship God. However, all the aiming in the world will do you no good if you have no idea how to handle a bow. The most important part of shooting a bow well is by having correct and consistent form. A person who just picks up a bow and starts shooting in whatever way seems right may find some success but will not fulfill the full potential until they are taught the proper way. Furthermore, they will likely develop bad habits that will need to be unlearned before they are able to shoot to the fullest potential. That has been the greatest failure of mankind. We have spent millennia trying to find our own way to live rightly and have tried and failed every time. Thus, Christ came and declared, “… I am the Way…” He came to show us the right way to be. More than that, after He left, we were given a permanent teacher. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

As we stand and aim at the target of relationship, we have the Holy Spirit next to us, whispering into our ear. Teaching, reminding, and correcting us until we hit the mark. We have such great need of a teacher. We need our old habits to be broken, and new ones to be learned. As we commune with Him, ask of Him, and listen to Him, we come ever closer to the heart of God and His presence. Galatians 5:16-18 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (17) For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Here we are again, where we began. For all that has been said and understood, still we may find that we miss the mark. Still we fall into sin, though we, with all our hearts, desire to be close to God and to walk in all His ways. Fear not. The process of becoming a good archer is a gradual one. We are progressively being made into the image of our Lord. It is not on our works that we are justified.

Romans 3:21-26 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— (22) the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (26) It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Though you may miss the mark, Christ did not. He is your justification and your redemption. Leave your works behind and focus on pursuing relationship with Him. For as you come to know Him more, He will make you able to hit the make. His hand will guide you and by His righteousness you will be vindicated. When we, in frustration, cry out as Paul did, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” We may be reminded, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

-Jared Freeman, “Missing the Mark”