Thank you, Veterans. Today we will look at a military word in Scripture. When we break one of God’s commandments, we “hamartia,” which is a military or hunting term for missing the mark. Read Romans 6:5-12. The mark that we are missing is a relationship with God through faith and obedience. Remember God’s covenant is the target we are aiming for: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” If we continue to sin against God and others, we erode our relationships and sometimes destroy them completely. We develop the motivation of pleasing ourselves instead of God, following our own way instead of God’s way, and making ourselves the center of our own universe with little regard for God and others around us. Continuing down a path of sin and self-fulfillment leads to three kinds of broken relationships. The first broken relationship is our Relationship with God. God has promised to be our God, but we are responsible for our response to God’s invitation. When we choose to put our own will ahead of God’s will, we sacrifice our relationship with God. The second broken relationship is our relationship with self. We are made in the image of God with the capacity to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When we choose our own will instead of God’s will, we lose ourselves in sinfulness. We build false arguments about who we are, but when we are apart from God, we lose our true selves. The third relationship is our relationship with others. Why does God ask us not to murder, commit adultery, or steal? Does God want to stop our fun? No! It is because murder, adultery, and stealing damage relationships. We must always be willing to be honest with ourselves and with God, identifying our sin, and surrendering each one to God. When we ask for forgiveness, we feel the freedom of weightlessness. As our desire to please God increases, we will see our relationships with God, self, and others grow more fruitful and fulfilling. Receiving Jesus is the first step to restoring these broken relationships. Following Jesus is the continuing process of removing sin and embracing God’s grace.
God of us all, we come before you today confessing we have missed the mark. Help us to aim intentionally at the relationship you want for us. Give us a clear vision to see your grace fully and to follow Jesus Christ with all our hearts. Amen.
