You can't hit the bullseye on your own

4 min read

I keep missing the bullseye. Arrow after arrow, and I just can't seem to land it. I keep falling short.

There's actually a Bible verse about falling short. But it's not talking about bows and arrows.

Romans 3:23-24 says: "All have sinned and fall short of God's glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve. And because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins."

What this verse is really about is us not being good enough to be near God on our own. But God sent Jesus to pay the price for us so we can be with Him. The only way we can do this is through Jesus. There's nothing else we could possibly do to get close to God without Him.

Good spots and bad spots

Let me explain it with my bow and arrow. The bullseye is God. And I've got stickers — ticks for the good things I do, and crosses for the bad things.

I reckon I've done lots of good things this week. I checked on a friend and prayed with them. I helped make some food. I made my bed. I helped out around the house. Tick, tick, tick, tick.

But I also did some bad things too. Not too many, but still. There were times I got frustrated and angry at someone at the shops. I was a bit proud. Oh dear. And then I ate the last cookie when I should have left it for Brett.

So I've got a few good spots and a few bad spots. Let's see if I can hit the target and get close to God now.

Nope. Missed.

What if I had more good spots than bad spots? Would that help?

Still missed. It didn't seem to change at all.

A million good things isn't enough

This is what our verse is talking about. You can do a million good things — and that's great — but all of us at some point will make a mistake and do the wrong thing. That's what we call sin. And that straightaway means we can't be near God.

Unless we have Jesus in our lives, and we say sorry to God.

So this time, let's say sorry to God and thank Jesus for covering all our mistakes and our sins. Picture a jumper being thrown over all those crosses, covering every one of them. And then let's try again to get closer to God — our target — with Jesus in our lives.

Much better. Bullseye.

What this means for us

We don't earn our way to God. We can't stack up enough ticks to outweigh the crosses. That's not how it works. But the good news is we don't have to. Jesus covers it all. Every mistake, every moment we got it wrong. He covers it.

All we have to do is ask. Say sorry. And let Him be part of our lives.

A prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, we want to praise and thank you for Jesus. Thank you that you sent your Son to cover all our mistakes and our sins just so we can be close to you. God, we are really sorry when we make mistakes and do the wrong thing. Please forgive us for those times. Thank you that Jesus can be a part of our lives just by asking. We ask that He is part of our lives today and through the weeks to come, that you will be journeying with us to help us do the right thing and reminding us just how close we can be to you through Jesus. We thank you for these things and we pray them in your name. Amen.

This week, when you catch yourself trying to earn your way — stacking up good deeds and hoping they're enough — stop. Remember the bullseye. Remember the jumper. And remember that Jesus already did the part you can't do yourself.

Based on an all-age talk by Glenda Downie for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A.