Target Practice Is Required

(Proverbs 8:36 KJV)  But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

My father used to have a saying, “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”  Sin fits into that category.  We may live in rebellion and refuse to obey.  We damage ourselves, not God.  This word has a marginal statement of literal meaning.  It says “misses me.”  This is not the sin of rebellion and belligerence.  This is the sin of negligence.

There are different words used for sin in the Bible.  This one has the idea of missing the mark.  It means to be off target.  There are different reasons for missing a mark, deadline or goal.  One is that we were not aware there was a goal we were shooting for.  Have you every had someone say, “I win,” and you didn’t even know you were in a race?  It is still a miss.

What I think is being emphasized here is the person who misses because they don’t care enough to pay attention.  Look around you next Sunday.  I am assuming you are in church for this.  How many people around you would call themselves Christians but they have not spent any time reading God’s owner’s manual or listening to the One.  They are living in sin simply because they don’t care enough to follow the directions.

This says you damage yourself this way.

So?  Have you gotten real casual about your spiritual walk?  That is what revival is about.  That is why the sermon last week made you feel uncomfortable.  Maybe something needs to change, or at least wake up.