How to Hit the Bull’s Eye in Life

There was a sign that hung on wall behind my seat in the Bethel hockey locker room. It was put up there by my friend and line mate as an inspiration to us. On it were the words of ‘The Great One,� Wayne Gretzky. The quote on the sign read, “You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.�

Anyone familiar with hockey knows that if you don’t ever shoot the puck you are never going to score. However, more important than just taking a random shot is making sure that you are aiming at something when you shoot. Shooting is good - you have to do it to score and win - but aiming at something before shooting is even better.

The same thing is true in darts. Think what would happen if people just closed their eyes and started throwing the darts. I wouldn’t want to be in that room and neither would anyone else. It would be dangerous and detrimental to all involved, especially the walls.

Unfortunately many of us men get so caught up in the game of life that we end up firing at multiple targets from multiple angles, without ever stopping to think about what we are aiming at. In other words, we do many things for many reasons, without ever taking the time to analyze the point of it all. Before we know it our lives are so out of focus that we don’t even know what the bull’s eye looks like anymore. And so we end up just throwing darts.

I believe that we will never experience all that God intends for us to experience unless we begin to focus our lives on the bull’s eye that matter most, our relationship with Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel of Matthew there is a story about a time when Jesus was teaching a group of people on the side of a mountain. He is teaching them about things like prayer, fasting and taking care of the poor. Next he tells the people not to worry about their food, drink and clothes because God knows what they need and he will take care of them just like he takes care of the birds and the grass of the field.

Jesus says, “So do not worry, saying ‘what will we eat’ or ‘what will we drink’, or ‘what shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.�
In essence Jesus is telling the people to change their focus. He invites them, as he does you and me, to aim at a different bull’s eye than the ones we are so accustomed to shooting at.

Instead of resting in Jesus and simplifying our lives so that we can focus on Him, many of us crumble at the temptation to put up a bunch of little targets and start throwing away, hoping to hit something. We want to be the strongest dude in the gym, the best hitter on the softball team, the funniest guy in the office, the top salesman, or the coolest dad on the block. But what happens when we expend so much energy trying to achieve these things is that we miss out on the best thing.

So how do we hit the bull’s eye Jesus challenges us to throw our life’s darts at? We need to look at our life and ask ourselves the hard question ‘why do I do what I do?’

In 1 Corinthians 9:24 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that in a race runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.�

Paul understood what many of us don’t. If we want to hit the bull’s eye we need to live with an elevated self-awareness regarding why we do want we do. As men we must be able to zero in with laser-like focus on the reasons behind our actions. And above all, we must pursue Jesus Christ with intentionality and zeal. It is not enough to cruise through life throwing darts aimlessly. There is too much at stake.

Many years later Paul is again using the metaphor of a race to describe his life. This time he is writing a letter to his young apprentice named Timothy. He tells Timothy about the pain he is experiencing and his belief that his life is coming to an end. The race that Paul had written about so many years earlier in the Corinthians letter is almost over; he can see the finish line before him.

Yet even with the end looming before him Paul writes with a confidence that is inspiring. He says in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day.�
One day you and I will reach our final finish line. At that moment it will not matter how many bull’s eyes we have hit in the areas of business, finance, investments, sports, or popularity. All that will matter is whether or not we have made Jesus Christ our primary bull’s eye.

Why do you do what you do? Are you running the race of life for a crown that will last for a while, or for a crown that will last forever? Gaining clarity and focus regarding why you do what you do, will set you up for a life that lands right, smack dab in the middle of the most important dartboard you’ll ever throw at.

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