Aim Here: Having A Target Always Helps

It is finally that time of year!

No, not Thanksgiving. Not Christmas. It is basketball season!

Basketball is by far my favorite sport. And recently, at our church, we held evaluations for our Upward Basketball and Cheer season.

Over 100 kids will be playing in our league this year. One such kid is a third-grade girl from our church. This kid is great. Every time she sees me, she holds two fingers up to her eyes and points them back at me indicating she is “watching me”.

Anyway, this little girl has never played organized basketball and her first couple of shots were proof. Her shot had the right line, but it was always too short or too long.

I told her to aim at a particular part of the rim every single time and she would be more successful. She nailed her next four shots. I leaned over to her dad and said she is going to be awesome.

Not just because she made four shots in a row, but because she is also coachable. I knew she had a background in archery and she definitely has the hand-eye coordination already. What she did not have was her target. Once I gave it to her, she nailed it every time.

This little girl readily received instruction and teaching on how she should shoot, and she was more successful. How readily do we accept instruction?

The Bible says, in Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

Many of us wander through life wondering, and maybe even complaining, about if God or anyone else really cares. We ask for guidance and wisdom. We read self-help books and articles to try and get ourselves on the right path.

But what if we simply remember the words of our Father in Heaven who has promised us that He will instruct us, teach us, and counsel us with a LOVING eye.

He is always watching over us, not as a force-field that keeps us from harm, but as a loving Father who will pick us up when we fall and will guide us if we will obey. He gave us His Word to help us live!

I encourage you this week to be willing to accept whatever instruction, teaching, or counsel God has in store for you the same way that little girl responded to my basketball instruction.

Who knows what may happen as a result? Maybe your life will become a little bit more “on target”.

Anyway, I was just thinking...