Aim High

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:1-15

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”—Colossians 3:1-2

I have a friendly rivalry with a fellow deacon, a former airman about our military service affiliations. On occasion, he points out how a study stated the U.S. Air Force is the most physically fit service. As a retired Marine, I always question the validity of the study he cites, and the banter back and forth begins. After a few rounds of egging each other on, his parting comment is “Aim High,” the Air Force’s long standing motto.

My friend’s parting words bring today’s scripture to mind because that is exactly what Paul encourages the Colossian church and us to do—aim high. While we establish goals and ambitions for this life, Paul calls for us to set our sights on the things beyond this world. Paul’s challenge to us: if you are really born again and have been resurrected from your old self to be a new creature in Christ, you should have a different focus, a different aim in life.

Paul encourages the reader to leave behind the old person who lived in disobedience and pursued ungodly ambitions. We are to replace the old with a new person, one who displays mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, and forgiveness. We are called to be a people full of love, living lives governed by the peace of God, and setting our affections on things above, not below.

In marksmanship, if your weapon’s sights are faulty or there is an error in your technique, you will miss the target. So, you have to adjust accordingly. If you are shooting right of the target, you aim more to the left. If you are shooting left, aim more to the right. If you are below the target, you must aim higher. Sometimes we settle for coming short of the target; we settle for those things that are beneath our dignity and below our calling as disciples. The solution, aim higher.

I suspect the Air Force motto isn’t focused on aiming high in altitude or marksmanship. Instead, it encourages the hearer to transcend what they are, to achieve greater; to establish and pursue noble goals and ambitions. Likewise, we should leave our old person behind to become the new creation that God intends for us to be. On that point, I agree with my friend—Aim High! 

Question to Ponder: Am I settling for less than what I should be? If so, have I adjusted my aim?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”—2 Corinthians 5:17