What are you aiming at?

All of us have our sights set on something. Maybe it’s to make more money. Maybe it’s to be more successful. Maybe it’s to find as much comfort as we possibly can. But how often do we set our sights on Christ?

When teaching about anxiety in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encourages His listeners to trust in God’s provision. He says, “‘But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you’” (Mt. 6:33 ESV).

Rather than seeking God first, we run to everything else. Rather than recognizing how God satisfies, we try numbing our anxieties in other ways.

I don’t know about you, but I cause myself a great deal of heartache each day because I attempt to figure things out on my own rather than trusting God. But if we’re going to live with Christ-shaped joy, we need a Christ-shaped focus.

We choose each day what we’re going to aim at, devote our attention to, and give our affection to. Jesus says, “‘And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?’” (v. 27 ESV).

We all look back and reflect on the decisions we’ve made. And we’ve all, at one time or another, aimed at the wrong target. Rather than seeking Christ, we’ve sought joy in all the wrong places.

Thankfully, God is willing and able to rescue us from our sinful cycles and the years we feel as if we’ve wasted. It’s not too late for your life to be aimed at glorifying God. Only then will you find the happiness and satisfaction you’re looking for.

Psalm 90 says, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (vv. 10-14 ESV).

There are moments in our lives when we need to reevaluate our aim. I hope this column encourages us to set our sights on Christ as we strive to glorify Him in our day-to-day lives.

Allow me to end with a passage of Scripture from Colossians.

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (3:1-4 ESV).

What are you aiming at?