“For by one sacrifice He (Jesus) has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (perfect).” Hebrews 10:14

A hobby of mine is shooting. While I grew up with guns in the house and have always been around them, it hasn’t been until the last year that I could actually call ‘shooting’ a hobby! When I’d go, it was always questionable as to how I well I would do. Hitting the target was never consistent and keeping score never a thought! Until Dan, my friend and fellow Jesus guy said, “meet me here Tuesday morning!”

I started teaching Sunday School when I was in Jr. High School. When teachers couldn’t handle me, dad made ME a teacher. And what a wake up call THAT was! I didn’t really know what I DIDN’T know until I HAD to KNOW IT! I learned early that to be a good teacher, one needs FIRST to become a good STUDENT!

Dan began teaching me what I had never learned. I LISTENED because he was OBVIOUSLY smarter than me in the area of pistol shooting! From day one he said, “you’re doing well!” Even though I RARELY felt I was. I wanted to be perfect. He wanted me to, simply and consistently, improve. “You’ll get there,” he’d say. And yesterday I did!

Looking at the target, I see 5 misses. The middle circle is the ‘X’ ring’ or ‘bullseye.’ But anything in the BIG circle counts as ‘perfect.‘ While I was semi-happy, Dan was ecstatic! Jesus and Dan have a lot in common!

This is not bragging about what a good shot I am. The next time could easily be far worse! But I am MUCH better than I was a year ago because I have a GREAT instructor…AND I LISTEN to him. I mean BOTH of them! Jesus and Dan!

I LOVE the Bible verse today because it tells me my actual standing before God…PERFECT! To Him I am PERFECT ALWAYS! Not because of anything ‘I’ have done, but because what His SON has done on MY behalf! Now don’t get me wrong! He has a LOT to teach me and He EXPECTS me to listen to Him and do what He says! I simply commit to doing just that!

I am now PERFECT in Gods eyes…and ‘getting perfecter’ every day as I walk with Him. That’s even when I don’t FEEL like it. Misses and missteps that may look like failure to me and others are NOT reasons for God to abandon me. It actually draws us CLOSER in our relationship of teacher and student! And WHAT A RELIEF it is to know that the Master of the UNIVERSE looks at me and see a straight shooter! So…. ‘How YOU doin?’

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:4-5

Studying this morning, my phone erupted with the notice I had just received a text. “I’m doing real good,” it said, as if answering a question. But I hadn’t asked one! It was 7am and I figured Galen was still asleep after getting out of his knee surgery last night around 9pm! He sent me this picture too! The gimp comedian had struck again!

I hadn’t expected him to be awake, but should have known better! He said he’d gone to sleep about 12 and awoke at 3! I wish I had his energy. When I looked at the picture, I noticed the magic marker and couldn’t believe the humor! I asked, “Is that the mark so the Doctor knows which knee to operate on?” “Yup,” he replied… and I had to laugh! You see…Galen doesn’t HAVE another knee…or LEG for that matter! But I guess ‘rules is rules!’

Galen likes to fancy himself a tough man of faith! But I know his wife, Paula! The Army Ranger can lie there and make philosophical God statements about duty and suffering, but Paula is the one who has to drag him around and cover his back. And she does it SOOO well. Personally, I’d probably just shoot him (joke) which would be a WHOLE lot easier! But she loves him and therefore SERVES him. Together they define the world FAITHFUL! They live the furthest away from our church (18 miles) and never miss!

Service is an art. Some people do it because they HAVE to. Some because they’re SUPPOSED to. And there are those who do it because they WANT to! Those people are my inspiration! The Bible tells me that’s the way it’s supposed to be! They BELONG to me for that very purpose. And I to them! Together, we make up the comically frustrated gimp (or BODY) of Christ! And what a sight we must be to the world!

When Marxist terrorists and fear-mongers join together in an attempt to divide our nation, it is to the Galen’s and Paula’s that I turn my attention. And JESUS! Even the Son of GOD went through horrific circumstances as He purposed to SERVE ME from His heart of Love! Yes, HE set the example. But He ALSO gave the COMMAND and ABILITY for YOU and I to serve as well.

So don’t try to pin a medal on Galen or Paula because they don’t even have a place to pin it TO! They belong to Jesus and US…and we to them. Having died to themselves, they live for their new owners as an example and inspiration. My parting shot to Galen was, “Well I guess I’ll see you at Bible Study tomorrow night, then!” And again I received…”Yup!” It’s time for ME to get running for Jesus! Maybe…just maybe… I can catch up to Galen and his Bride!