Cross-Hairs
I’m a fisherman. Not counting water, nerf, cap, bee-bee, and paint ball guns, I have only shot a couple actual guns in my 52 years of living. I have always wondered why a hunter would just sit in a deer stand for hours, instead of sitting on the water somewhere with a pole in his hand.
Recently though, my son has became hooked on hunting and as a result wanted a rifle for his 18th birthday. I started looking into the best options and asked a buddy what rifles I should buy him. Like anything else these days, I found out rifles are not cheap. Thanks to a close friend, I was able to get him a Marlin 30:30 with a very nice scope on it.
I have looked down the barrel of toy guns, but I had never looked through the scope of a rifle. When I picked up his rifle and looked though the CROSS-HAIRS for the first time, I finally understood what drives a hunter to hunt. It was like a big crappie had thumped my jig, causing my heartbeat to begin to increase sending impulses to my brain releasing whatever chemical that makes a person want more!
There is something uncommonly invigorating about a big animal in the CROSS-HAIRS of a gun scope.
I love the art of shooting a basketball. Accurate alignment, good shooting technique and practice increases a players, field goal percentages, but what makes someone a great sniper? The further you move away from the basket, the more value that is placed on your target ! Every step you take away from the goal the more your alignment increases in value. What if I could instill in my players a scope with Cross-Hairs?
What if we could apply this same principle to our Spiritual lives? One of my favorite movies is Quigley Down Under. An American cowboy takes his rifle and shooting ability and travels to Australia as a hired gun for an evil rancher. Quigley can dial in his scope at nearly 1000 yards and uses this ability to teach the rancher a lesson. I won’t ruin the movie for you, but if we could only keep Jesus in our sites as well as Matthew Quigley.
What would life be like if we kept our focus off fame, money, and so many other objects? Blind Bartimaeus is no longer blind, because of his ability to see what he could not even see. His faith and focus changed everything.
Let’s look at the Bible Story where Jesus made things clear to one of his disciples by helping Thomas dial in his scope. The story comes from John 20:24-29. Thomas hears the other disciples sharing the impossible story that they had seen Jesus alive after He had been crucified and buried for three days. Like most of us, Thomas tells his buddies that he would have to see the nails scars in his hands to believe such a story. A week later, locked in a room fearing for their lives, Jesus enters the room and places Himself right in the dead center of Thomas Cross-Hairs. “Put your finders here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Jesus is telling each of us the very same thing right now. Like Bart, we can’t see Jesus, but we can feel His presence and though the power of the Holy Spirit, we can find comfort in knowing if we just dial in our CROSS-HAIRS on JESUS, then everything else will fall in place.
Photo by Piotr Wilk on Unsplash