Our Sunday-morning Bible Study is going through Jesus and the Just Reign of God. The chapter we studied this last week had to do with living as God's people, and one of the first parts to hit me between the eyes told the story of Matt Emmons in the 2004 Olympics. He had the top score at one point in the rifle shooting competition. Then he made what would have been an 8.1 score except for one minor detail--he had shot at the wrong target.
The author of this Bible study lesson wanted to make one point--it doesn't matter how accurate you are if you aiming at the wrong goal.
Christians should have one main goal: pleasing the Lord. Jesus taught his followers not to demand rights, but to give them up; not take, but give; no bitterness--instead to forgive; grant mercy instead of revenge; and extend grace, not vengeance. That's all-out love. Not earned, not demanded, but given freely to everyone.
Remember the song, "They will know we are Christians by our love?" That's how people should be able to identify Christians, by the way they love each other. And by the way we love those who aren't Christians, by the way. By the way we love the ones who irritate us the most.
His most insistent demand was that we should love one another as He loves us. Jesus never said it would be easy being His disciple. The living of His Words might never come easy, but the rewards are humongous. Make it your goal, and you'll be right on target.
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