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An
Outreach Publication of the Church of Christ at
Creekwood |
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Ready, Aim... On
his final shot in the 50-meter three-position rifle
final on Sunday, August 22, 2004, Matt Emmons needed
only to get near the bull's eye to win the gold medal.
Focusing on remaining calm, he aimed, fired,
and hit the bull's eye!
There was only one problem: Emmons had fired
at the wrong target! Known as a "crossfire," Emmons had accidentally fired at the target in lane three while he was shooting in lane two. Had the target been the correct one, Emmons' score would have been an 8.1 – enough to win the gold medal. Unfortunately, Emmons received a score of zero, which knocked him out of the medal competition to eighth place. Emmons, a 23-year-old accounting student from Browns Mills, N.J., explained he usually looks at the number of the target through his viewfinder as a reference point and then lowers his gun to hone in on the target. "On that shot, I was just worrying about calming myself down and just breaking a good shot, and so I didn't even look at the number,'' he said. “I probably should have. I will from now on.'' Emmons'
mishap is disappointing to himself and to those who
were cheering for him, but
his mistake reminds us of a problem with which each
and every one of us struggle – the problem of SIN. One
of the Bible's words for SIN is the Greek word "hamartano"
which means to "miss
the mark."
It is used in Romans 3:23 to describe mankind's
malady: "For ALL have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
The bull's eye in this case is the glory of
God - but you and I continue to "fall
short" or
fail to hit the bull's eye, time and time again.
Because of our imperfect aim, we cannot earn
the gold medal – or crown of life (2 Timothy 4:8). However, the GOOD NEWS is that Jesus died on the cross for us so that we might receive forgiveness for our sins – our failure to "hit the bull’s eye." Thanks to Jesus, we can be victorious through Him (1 Corinthians 15:57) and wear the victor's crown. The Scriptures describe the crown as an imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:25), a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8), a crown of life (James 1:12; Revelation 2:10), and "the crown of glory that does not fade away" (1 Peter 5:4). The crown of life is available to those who will - place their trust in Jesus who won the victory for us (Acts 16:31), repent of sin (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), be baptized (immersed) in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), and continue to follow Him for the rest of their lives (Revelation 2:10). The "aim" of our lives, therefore, should be to follow Jesus to victory. Are YOU aiming at the right target?David A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood To Subscribe to "Living Water" send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net Follow this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org
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