There are several verses in the Bible that you may never have noticed or thought about, but it would have been good for Matt, the man in this story, if he had read them and acted on them. The verses are in Proverbs 4:25-2725Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:25‑27): “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder [think about] the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left.”
Matt was well-known as one of the best rifle shots in the world. He had taken first place in almost every contest. Now he was in Athens, Greece, at the finals, and once again he was in the lead. He only needed to get near the bull’s eye in his last shot, and the gold medal would be his!
All eyes were on Matt, waiting for his last shot. He steadied himself and was ready to shoot. BANG! He saw that his aim was on target, and he looked at the scoreboard to check the result.
Strange ... there must have been an error, for no score registered. A gasp went up from the officials and his coach. Yes, there certainly was an error—a major error! Officials had to tell Matt that he had hit the wrong target! He was standing in Lane 2, and he had hit the target of Lane 3!
The unbelievable had happened, and Matt, with tears running down his face, knew he had missed the gold medal by one small mistake. He said afterwards that he was concentrating on staying calm and didn’t even look at the lane number. “I probably should have checked, and I certainly will from now on,” he said sadly.
It is not only Matt. Each one of us should think about the path we are walking. We are not in Athens at a rifle competition, but we each had a starting point in life, and we each will have a finishing point. If you hope to be in heaven after you reach your finishing point on earth, there is one very important rule that must be followed—God says nobody will be accepted in heaven if they are still in their sins. He also says there is only one way to have your sins removed: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). For those who make the mistake of ignoring what God has said about sin, the cost will be GREAT—far greater than losing a gold medal! It will mean an eternity in the blackness and darkness of hell, with the devil and his demons. How wise it would be to decide on God’s remedy for sin right now—today!
Once the matter of our sins has been settled with God, it would be well to keep our eyes on that heavenly prize of eternal salvation at the finish line. Hebrews 12:1-21Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1‑2) tells us, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
If we set the Lord Jesus always before us and keep our eyes focused on Him, He will be our “target.” He is the secret of ending with a big victory and not with tears of sorrow and regret.
ML-12/12/2010