‘Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.’ Proverbs 4:25-27
At times, guys will stop by the archery shop and just hang out and shoot with me for a while. It’s light hearted comradery, mixed with a bit of competition. One of the games we’d occasionally challenge each other in was darts. It’s a archery target fashioned like a dart board and you shoot the games. On one particular night, a few guys stopped by to hang out and the challenge of darts was laid down. The problem for me, this particular time, was that I had sold my bow two days earlier. “Alright, no problem, I’ll grab one off the wall.” So, let the games begin.
The bow I was shooting had a rest and a d loop, but no sight. For the archers and bowhunters reading this, you’ll understand the difficulty in being competitive with this handicap. All in fun, right? I did alright, but it was really no contest. I got a few lucky arrows in. The first game of 600, I hung in there, but for every lucky one that found its mark, the next one would be inches out.
Now, I would certainly never claim to be the best archer around, but would consider myself an accomplished and refined shooter. Despite my proficiency, without the aid of a sight, the best I could do was get close and inconsistently score. As I pondered on this, I went to the above passage. Solomon is instructing his son to keep his eyes forward, focused on the Lord, to not wander from the path he’s set his “sights” upon.
As I thought on this passage and the games we were playing, a parallel began to take root. If I, as a proficient archer, am made mediocre by the removal of my sight apparatus, could not the same be said of a man who tries to go through life without God’s “sight” before his eye? A “good” man, same as a “good” archer may get lucky and close on occasion without the aid of the fixed “sight”, but I estimate, more often than not, he will miss his mark. In archery, regardless of how good I am foundationally, when you take a necessary piece of my equipment away, I can only do so much on my own. The same can be said for my daily life. When my focus is pulled from the Lord, or I remove a necessary tool (scripture) from my equipment, on my own I will seldom hit what I aim for.
Solomon is teaching just that. He’s teaching us to guard our hearts, protect are minds and what comes in by looking through God’s “sight” so that we can be accurate, confident and consistent in hitting what we should be aiming for. Have a blessed weekend.
In full pursuit of the greatest Trophy
