Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Proverbs 4:23-27 HCSB
While many law enforcement officers never fire their weapon on duty, they must be prepared for a gun battle. In the academy we received extensive classroom training before stepping onto the range. We were taught the seven principles of marksmanship; grip, stance, sight alignment, sight picture, breath control, trigger squeeze, follow through.
They have proven what you do in training is what you will do on the streets. As Christians, how we train and behave in church is how we should behave on the streets.
We are commanded to go forth and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). We cannot do this unless we are properly trained. We also can’t do this is if we are deemed to be a hypocrite. If we sit in a church pew on Sunday morning, but exhibit anger and hatred throughout the week, we will be deemed hypocrites. We will turn others away. Our pastor said something yesterday that we all need to keep in mind. We are all witnesses, we will be a good witness or a bad witness. Being a good witness takes practice. The devil is continually firing at us. As Christians, we must hit our mark.
We need to have a good, firm grip on the Scriptures. We need to know our Bible. We can only do this through Bible study. Participate in Sunday School and other good, solid Bible studies that are offered.
Our stance is also very important. We need to have a firm stance so that we can stand strong against the devil and his schemes. As our scripture says, “Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure.”
If you’re sights are not properly aligned, your shots will be off to the right or to the left. Our scripture passage says that we must not swerve to the right or the left. Align your sights on Jesus.
Sight picture involves focusing on the target with your dominant eye. You must be focused on your target at all times. Focusing on your target helps you achieve your goal.
We were always taught that our most important goal was going home at the end of our shift. As Christians, we should be focused on going home at the end of this life. To do so, we must make our target Christ and we must strive to imitate Him at all times (Ephesians 5:1). We must stay focused on Him.
Breath control sounds like something that would come naturally, but several years before I retired, I was having a terrible time with my shooting. Several range instructors watched me shoot and couldn’t tell what I was doing wrong. Finally a good friend and range instructor came out and noticed right off the bat that I was not breathing between shots. Once I began to control my breathing, my shots got much better. Sometimes we get so busy doing what we are doing, we forget to breathe. We are told in Psalm 46:10 to be still and know that He is God. Sometimes we need to just stop and catch a breath knowing that God is in control. God’s got this.
Trigger squeeze can really mess you up if it isn’t just right. If you hold the trigger with too much finger, it results in “milking the trigger” which throws your shots off to the side. It is important to use just the right amount of finger in the trigger. Sometimes we hold on to things we should let go of and let God handle.
Follow through means staying on target until the shot is completed and you are ready to fire the next round, if necessary. As Christians, we often lack follow through. We start out well, but we don’t stay focused on the target. We get saved and figure we are done when we are actually just beginning. We also need to follow through with new Christians and mentor them.
In shooting, there is a lot to remember when you step out to take that shot. But, the more you practice the better you will do. As Christians, the main thing we need to remember is to focus on Christ. Keep Christ in our sights and keep our sights aligned on Him. He will take care of all the rest (Matthew 16:33).
What if you just had one shot to get it right? You’ve got to make it count. The devil is shooting back every chance he gets. Set your sights on Christ today and focus on Him. Let go of anything that hinders you (Hebrews 12:1), breathe and let Him do what He does best and that’s taking good care of you.
Have a great day!