Just finished out a great weekend for Briar Ridge. It’s not deer season yet, but we do our best to make as may weekends as we can for the kids. We got to take a small group of our local kids to fishing camp for a little bit of Alligator Hunting! A great time was had by everyone of them and the messages definitely touched hearts. We got one 9 foot gator, one smaller one that we didn’t keep… but more importantly one heart was given to Christ.
We had two nights of gator hunting and it was so much fun. Well the nights started out that way. After about the 20th miss with the young men throwing out lines the fun started to wear off. And that’s what I want to talk about.
Our message Sunday was on missing the mark.
In the Old Testament, the word for sin is “khata”, meaning “to fail” or “to miss the goal.” We spent a whole lot of time Missing our Goal gator hunting Friday night, but on Saturday night our goal was to have fun. And that goal was almost missed. We were putting getting a gator in front of the real goal. And I believe that happens a lot in life. We get our mind set on what we want to do, the plans we have… and we miss the goal that God has for our life. It’s not that our plans are bad or evil, but anything we put in front of His plan is sin. When I talked with the child about asking Christ into her heart this weekend, I made sure she knew that the decision was a big one. That asking Christ to be Lord of our life isn’t a quick choice, but a life time of choosing Him and what He wants first.
So the question today, have you been choosing Him first? Or have you been missing the mark? Have you gotten side tracked and are throwing your line 10 foot off the mark? Cause if you are, sooner or later you are going to get aggravated and tired of being in a boat casting and not catching. In the Bible we find a story of the disciples that fished all night, not catching a thing. But when they followed the Master’s plan, and threw the net on the other side of the boat, that’s when they were blessed with the catch of a lifetime.
Are you listening to His voice and being obedient? Or are you just following your own plan and path? Don’t spend your life missing the mark. Choose today to make Christ the goal in your life, and follow the path He has laid out for you.
Love in Christ,
Briar Ridge
