Have I corrected for that?

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:21-25)

When I want this, I do that. Sound familiar? It is a real struggle for all of us. No one is without some struggle with wanting to do what is right and somehow struggling to 'hit' that mark. Don't miss what Paul is saying - the battle or struggle is really within our minds. Our hearts are sure we want to do what is right, but our minds get all muddled up in the temptation that is pulling us in the opposite direction. When I was in high school, I took an archery course. It taught me one thing - aiming for the bullseye didn't ensure I would actually hit it!

So many factors played into hitting that center mark. I might not have enough tension on the bow and the arrow would fall short of the target. I would be aiming a bit too low and miss the rings totally. I might adjust my aim to a bit higher and way overshoot the target. Even when I managed to get within the circles of the target, I frequently did not hit 'dead center'. I saw where I wanted it to go. I adjusted my tension to take the arrow the distance. I refocused my aim, so it matched the 'placement' I desired for the arrow. Yet, I missed the mark! I considered a bunch of factors, but obviously didn't consider all of them! Did I adjust for crosswinds? Nope. Did I adjust for the pitch of the land? Nope. Did I consider my fatigue as the I took each subsequent shot? Nope. I 'thought' I had made all the necessary 'corrections', but as you can see from my illustration, we sometimes aren't even aware of the things that need 'correction'.

To be free from the domination of sin and the pull of our own flesh, we need something (or perhaps someone) with a better understanding of how this freedom is actually accomplished. Sometimes the correction we need is right there in front of us, but we just don't see it. We need God's help to know when our 'spirit' is right, but our 'flesh' is weak. We need his help in seeing how much that 'fleshly weakness' is pulling us toward sin. Our heart and mind aren't always 'sympatico' - they are at odds with each other sometimes! When all the 'right steps' aren't accomplishing the outcome we hoped for, we would be best served asking God if there are things we haven't 'corrected for' in our lives. Just sayin!