Another Lesson from the Skeet Shoot

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While at the skeet shoot last week, the gentleman who runs the skeet range told us that he had cut a new path in the woods to attract deer. Now, I'm a hunter but I learned something new. He said that the deer like a fresh-cut path. They like an easy path. What a great hunting spot, along an easy path! Not only does it draw the deer, but it gives you an open field of fire, uncluttered with branches that might get in your bullet's way.

Then it hit me, how Satan likes to hunt those who take the easy path in life. He cuts the path, knowing we'll follow it. When we're in the open, out of the sheltering trees, he picks us off with ease.

Where are the fresh-cut, easy paths in your life? Are they really safe roads to travel?

Lessons from the Skeet Shoot

Last Sunday afternoon, the men's group at our church had lunch and then went out to shoot some skeet. (Yeah--I know--I love this church!)

We had a short devotion just before shooting, based on Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The word sin is actually a target-shooting word, and means to miss the mark. We sure had a lot of "sinning" going on at the skeet shoot later that day!


We talked about some things that cause us to miss the mark of God's glory in our lives. They are some of the same things that caused us later in the day to miss the skeet we were aiming at.

1 - Taking our eyes off the target
2 - Being distracted by what's going on around us
3 - Not taking our time to do what needs to be done, the right way
4 - Not breathing correctly. (If you're not a shooter then you might not know that your breath has a lot to do with your accuracy. In life, we need to be able to stop and breathe--relax and focus.)



Each of us has targets we aim at in life. Each of us misses the mark. Each of us fails (as our score chart would later indicate). The good news is that "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)." He didn't wait until we got it right. He didn't wait to see if we'd hit our target of His holiness, because He knew we never could. Instead, He stepped in between us and our mistakes, bore the brunt of our wayward shots, and died for us. By so doing, He gives us his perfection and eternal life.

Bullseye!