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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?
God bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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