The Aim of Faithfulness

When I stepped up to take my first shot, I noticed that the target was kind of, well, blurry. I hadn't picked up a bow and arrow in years, but I didn't remember the concentric circles having fuzzy edges.

As it turns out, I had forgotten to put in my contacts. This happens more often than it should. How I didn't notice they were missing before that moment is beyond me. Also, I apparently drove to the range half-blind. It's fine. I can make out large objects. But, as I discovered, I can't use a bow and arrow with any accuracy.

I didn’t hit the target once.

I hit the floor a few times, almost took out a ceiling light, and I’m pretty sure I got a piece of the target next to mine.

But where I was supposed to be aiming? No such luck.

After this series of failed attempts to land an arrow anywhere near the target, I went out to my car to see if I had a backup pair of glasses. I did.

They changed everything.

I could see the crisp lines of the target clearly. I knew right where I was aiming. Even with my glasses on, it still took a while to get the hang of it. But, as time went on, as I kept trying, assessing my shot, and correcting my aim, I got better.

By the end, I was certainly no Robin Hood, but I had managed to hit the mark with far more consistency and precision than when I began.

I wonder if that’s how we sometimes approach faithfulness to God.

The target is blurry. We’re not entirely sure where we’re aiming, so we end up hurling arrows in the general direction we think they’re supposed to be heading. But, day after day, month after month, year after year, we’re not getting any closer to the mark.

But, what if we were to look through the lens of Scripture?

What if we allowed God to correct our blurry vision?

The crisp lines of the target would start to come into focus. We'd find that the aim of faithfulness to God is made clear.

Jesus was once asked, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" In other words, "Jesus, what is the aim of a faithful life? What is the target of obedience?"

“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,'" He said. "' And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Love God.

Love people.

That is the aim of faithfulness to God.

The question is whether or not we will land closer to the target today than we did yesterday.