-"Setting the Sights"-

While I was growing up my Dad & I would go hunting quite often. Dad liked it a lot more than I did, but I just liked being with him. (To my Dad nothing was really a ‘sport’ unless you brought home something dead!) One of the things that is a necessity, if you’re going to hunt, is making sure your gun’s scope or sights are set correctly. Well, that is if you intend on bringing any game home with you! Often we would go out & target practice & Dad would ‘set the sights’ on the scopes to make sure they were accurate.

Thought about this often. While I enjoyed the times with my Dad, it was an important step to hunting correctly. We didn’t want to wound or put an animal in unnecessary pain. The goal was a quick, merciful kill
that put food on the table while dispatching the animal as humanely as possible.
Sometimes I forget to ‘set my sights’ correctly. I focus on all the wrong things & on the wrong people. Pretty distracting to the Christian life. Tends to make you disillusioned & dissatisfied when your sight is off. You don’t hit the mark you’re striving for.

I realize that when I send out these words they fall on very different people at very different stations of life. Some of you may be doing very well at hitting the mark in your life while others are a hit & miss at best. Some of you have been a Christian for a very long time while others are still unsure of the whole prospect of surrendering your life to a God you cannot see. You might be a ‘seeker’ at best.

For those of you, who find yourself in the latter station; let me give one simple encouragement. If you’re looking for a religion that is going to give you all the simple answers & tidy up all the ‘messy’ things of life into one tiny package where everyone has a little Sunday School smile & no bumps or bruises,…well you might better look some more. But if you’re really looking for an Answer & life…then I suggest you look no further. Jesus is that Answer you’ve been seeking. Matter of fact the idea of hitting a target is how God describes our trying to be ‘good enough’ for heaven: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. That ‘fall short’ means to ‘miss the mark.’ So, might just better trust Him to clean you up & & make you right. Otherwise, it ain’t happening.

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” Colossians 3: 1-4 NLT

The rest of us: We just might be spending the rest of the time we’re on this spinning globe setting our sights. Not just once in awhile, but regularly! Else we get more & more off target. Daily diving into the bible & finding out just how skewed & off-center we are.

Heard a story years ago about how we should be allowing God to sharpen us & tune us into His plan daily.Seems there was a young man in the Northwest states who was a logger. Times were hard & work was scarce. He applied for a job & the foreman said, “Young man, I’ll try you out & if you can keep up & pull your weight you have a job. Do you have an ax?” “Yes-sir” the boy replied eagerly. The young man rolled up his sleeves & went at it hard. While others took a mid-morning break, he kept cutting. Right on through lunch he cut. Late in the afternoon, the foreman called out to him: “Son, hold up a minute.” The boy came over. “Son, I know you’ve worked hard all day & noticed you didn’t even stop for lunch, but you’re somehow still behind all the other men in production.” The boy said, “I can’t see how that is. I haven’t even stopped or looked up.” The foreman said, “Wait a minute. Did you not stop to sharpen your ax any?”

That’s often a problem with us in our lives. If we don’t stop trying to be ‘productive’ & seek the face of God, we find we are actually falling behind. It’s imperative that we ‘set our sights’ on Christ. It’s been 30 years ago that I surrendered to ministry & that principle hasn’t changed once in all those years. Now, more than ever I have to stop & ‘sharpen the ax’. I have to ‘set my sights.’

In the 30 years & thousands of faces, places, miles & people, life has been sweet. Then, for me just like everyone else, life has been bitter. So I suppose for all of us it’s ‘bitter-sweet’. We take the bad with the good & focus on the ‘realities of heaven’ instead of the transitory things of earth.

The late Rich Mullins, author, award winning song writer, poet & singer, died in a car accident several years ago on the way to a concert for students. His life was given in reckless abandon & sacrifice. He gave up all the ‘trappings’ of stardom to live among & share Jesus with Native Americans. He truly had set his sights on things above. He wrote a song that bespeaks that focus on things eternal in “Elijah.” I’ll close with his words that resonate in my heart today.


Elijah
The Jordan is waiting for me to cross through
My heart is aging I can tell
So Lord, I'm begging for one last favor from You
Here's my heart take it where You will
This life has shown me how we're mended and how we're torn
How it's okay to be lonely as long as you're free
Sometimes my ground was stony
And sometimes covered up with thorns
And only You could make it what it had to be
And now that it's done
Well if they dress me like a pauper
Or if they dine me like a prince
If they lay me with my fathers
Or if my ashes scatter on the wind I don't care
But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

There's people been friendly, but they'd never be your friends
Sometimes this has bent me to the ground
Now that this is all ending I want to hear some music once again
'Cause it's the finest thing that I have ever found
But the Jordan is waiting though I ain't never seen the other side
Still they say you can't take in the things you have here
So on the road to salvation
I stick out my thumb and He gives me a ride
And His music is already falling on my ears

There's people been talking
They say they're worried about my soul
Well, I'm here to tell you I'll keep rocking
'Til I'm sure it's my time to roll
And when I do

When I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

'Cause when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

© 1982 Meadowgreen Music Company (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Rich Mullins CCLI License No. 228719

Here's the Youtube video code to see one of Rich's last performances of the song.
(Rich also penned "Awesome God" among many others.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0rR9zIgVHE




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