One day, while cutting down a tree on our property, I ”missed the mark.” I missed it by a couple of inches, dropping the large dead tree in the opposite direction of my intention. My cut was slightly below the wedge I’d removed. I realized it when the tree clamped down on my chainsaw, and it became stuck in the tree. I shut it off and walked away with my brother. As we contemplated the next step, a branch fell from the tree. Shortly after, we watched as the whole tree slowly leaned and fell. The bar on my chainsaw then looked like a twisted metal pretzel.

It’s eye-opening to think about how “missing the mark” so closely changed the results so dramatically.

Thankfully, the result of that day’s mistake didn’t matter much, and nobody got hurt, but it sure reinforces the importance of “hitting the mark” when missing so closely can result in disaster.

It’s also important that we “hit the mark” in doing God’s will; being careless can have dire consequences.

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

We really have no excuses for not doing the will of God according to God’s will, as we have the complete word of God (The Bible) readily available. However, scripture does not come by osmosis; We can only know scripture through study. It’s so important that we really can’t allow others to do it for us. We all need to understand Scripture as we are each responsible for working out our own salvation.

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” Philippians 2:12 ESV.

See also: James 1:22; 2 Timothy 2:15; Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:24–27.

God First!