Missing by a Mile

I've recently got into archery as a hobby. I really want to get outdoors more especially since work and school are sucking my life away, which is frustrating. I don't want to spend my extra curricular time hiding away in my bedroom watching Netflix or whatnot. Well, this particular bow is meant for bowfishing, a sport where you spear the fishing with an arrow attached to a string. There is no catch and release. You shoot to kill. It is legal in most states and people go bowfishing for carp and gar most of the time. I know down in the flats of Florida and other saltwater states, they go for stingray, flatfish, and other fish. Enough of that boring explanation.

This particular bow is a recurve bow. I have not shot a lot of bows in my life much less a recurve but it was inexpensive ($140 with all the fishing gear included, which is extremely cheap for a bow) and I wanted to try my hand at it. Well, after I bought it at Cabela's I went to the River Raisin at some small park called West County Park close to Dundee. Well, I went fly fishing there a few weeks earlier for carp and knew that this was the end of the season for them. I wanted to get in a few catches before the season for carp in the area was over. Well, when I got to the park, I set the bow up and walked to the spot where I was last time. I saw carp and was thrilled! First shot into the water broke the string attached to the arrow and the arrow smashed into a fallen log in the water. The carp, immune to falling branches and such, were probably laughing at me. I literally NEVER shot a bow until that day! So, I had to retrieve the arrow, which was the worst part (maybe best for some of you). I stripped down to my boxers and t-shirt and went in almost chest deep water to retrieve the arrow. *sigh* After that, I practiced a couple of times shooting into the water and into a tree to see the flight path of the arrow. Needless to say, I lost that same arrow and had to go back into the water to find it searching blindly in my underwear. That was loads of fun. *sarcastic*

People who profess Christ as Lord may not be Christians. They are not hitting the mark just as I did with the bow and arrow. They try and try and try but fail every time. These people may be Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists, or some other religious group. They may call themselves religious and not claim to be a denomination. They all claim to be children of God but may not be saved. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus talks about these people who missed the mark by a mile. He says, "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'" Scary...Depart from Me...I never knew you. You can do as many good works as you want yet be so far from Christ's salvation because you think you can get to heaven by doing good works. Nope, that's not how it works. Titus 3:5 states "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit...." This act of thinking you can get to heaven by works is a sin. Why? Because anything that is not following God's will is a sin. This also goes for anyone who IS a Christian but does not obey God. They keep trying it their way and fail and fail and fail. They are rebelling against God. In your life, are you hitting the target? Are you able to safely say that I am a child of God? If so, are you doing what God has commanded and following Him? Or are you "missing the mark?"