Today’s TAI is brought to us by FBSN Member (and pastor) Jim Lemaire of Missouri ….
I am privileged to have a father who taught me many valuable life lessons. From my earliest days I remember going to church, enjoying the outdoors and the safety and seriousness of guns. I was taught to enjoy and respect all these things. I was an adult before I really appreciated the life lessons he taught me.
Dad taught me to hear God's voice in everyday activities. He taught me a love for God's Word and the words of Jesus ("he that has ears, let him hear"). God will not run with us to speak; we must walk with Him to hear His voice.
One lesson came from the range while shooting with some men from church. The obvious goal is to hit the target. Nothing brings out the competitive nature of men more than a target. As we shot it was a great time of encouragement and ribbing each other on their performance (or lack thereof). While shooting, there was also the help as one would say. "you’re high", “Don’t jerk the trigger", "control your breathing " or “What are you aiming at?"
It interested to me how, though we all had been shooting most of our lives, it still came down to basics.
While shooting is simple, it isn’t easy. Hitting the target comes down to grip, aim, breathing and trigger control. Many of you have experienced this as others have come along side to help you on the range.
In our Christian walk, we also find it simple but not necessarily easy. Prayer and Bible reading, worship and fellowship are essential to hitting the target. How are you doing with those? Are you listening as others tell you why you're missing?
I realized, while I will listen to someone tell me how to improve my shooting, I can be defensive or unwilling to listen to someone tell me how I can improve my walk with the Lord.
Prayer is simply conversation with God and He speaks to us through His Word. That process shows us His target for our lives. Fellowship and worship insure we hit the target as we submit to His will and allow others to speak into our lives.
Think about it
This takes time and all of us are busy, so the questions are:
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