# 87 Missing the Mark

Joh 5:14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."

“Sin no more.” Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, the woman caught in the act of adultery! Remember after Jesus said, “He who is without sin cast the first stone,” and the stones were dropped, Jesus told the woman that He didn’t condemn her and she should “go and sin no more.”

How is that possible Jesus? Cuz like the Charlie Daniels song goes, “when I have a choice between good and bad, I pick bad two out of three!” How is it possible for me to “go and sin no more?”

What does Jesus mean by this seemingly impossible command?

The word “sin” here means “miss.” It speaks of someone who keeps missing the mark. Think of the mark in terms of a bullseye. Bullseye is perfection. Mt 5:48 reminds us: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Somehow, we have gotten the idea that the Law is the target, but that’s not true. Perfection is the target. The Law or Torah was given by God to be an aid, a guide. The word “Torah,” comes from the root Hebrew word, “Yaw raw, and it means to shoot an arrow. What do we shoot arrows at? A target! So the idea of Torah is it is an aimer. The Law then helps us to aim at the target of perfection! Use it by all means! It will make a positive difference in your life. But know this: none of us have the strength to reach the target of perfection, “all our arrows fall short of the glory of God.” Only Jesus is able to hit the mark every single time.

And every single time is what is required. Jas 2:10 says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”

The Apostle Paul looked at his life on the target range, even after his conversion   and lamented in Romans 7:15-25, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Arrows everywhere but not a bullseye in sight! Thank God for Jesus!

So how do we go and sin no more? We go in Jesus! Jesus is our target! Receive Him and let Him hit the target for you. Forgiving your missteps along the way!