Sunday, December 21, 2008

"A good archer is not known by his arrows but his aim."


I read this quote today, over cereal, and it sparked so many different thoughts. I replaced the word "archer" with Christian, that was easiest: then to replace arrows, hmmm, that brought up a far broader consideration.
In this picture, this child knows nothing of his mothers "arrows",( beliefs, knowledge, academics, history, status in life), all he knows is her aim, to love, to care for. It reminded me of a quote - "Love is an affection full of inventions, and sets the wit awork to devise good things."

Surely this mother's aim is to offer her child a world of wonder and love, although she may have no education or status in life.

I think young Christians can be discouraged because they know so little of the Bible and feel unqualified or unworthy; but if we remember our admonition to "not be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ", and make our aim to love one another, where ever we are, we shall be remembered for our aim though our arrows be ever so meager.

Photo by Jose A. Gallego

6 comments:

Danielle&Hannah said...

So true, and a quick thanks for visiting me too.
Yes, this brings to mind:
"Except ye be converted, and BECOME AS LITTLE CHILDREN, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3 ).

Children are amazing how they can't hold grudges, they forget and forgive those who have wronged them, they accept the truth from a loving parent, and more... Yes we often forget the simplicity of salvation and life and are the ones who too often complicate things.

Thanks for your post :-)

Anonymous said...

How about "A true Christian is not known by what he says, but how he lives and how he dies"

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hi Fred :)

It is interesting to see how a simple line triggered a very serious thought.

A true Christian has to do a very simple thing. It is not complicated at all.

LOVE YOU GOD ABOVE ALL AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF.

At this moment I am not sure whether Jesus said this.

Best wishes :)

Mel said...

When you said, "I read this quote today, over cereal," my first thought was, I wonder which cereal box he read that off of... :) Then I realized that a nugget of such value would never have come off a cereal box. I love it when we find or read or hear or see something that God uses to spark inspiration in our lives. I love it when we have the opportunity to share those inspirations with each other, and thereby multiply the joy and blessings. :)

FCB said...

Hi Danielle,
Glad you came by and I appreciate your comments, so true, children are great examples for us. So simple.
God bless,
Fred



Hi Anon,
I so agree with the first part but I'm not clear on what you mean about "how he dies"? What is your thought?
God bless,
Fred



Hi Joseph,
It is interesting how little things trigger something larger, hopefully this is larger? Shall we say something different, that's better. I reflected more on this and think one application for the arrows is our faith. Make sense?
God bless,
Fred



Hi Mel,
About the only food box I have ever read anything inspiring on was a Celestial seasonings tea box, it had some New Age thought, but it did have a kernel of truth which I applied to Christ's words.
When book store browsing I always pick up books of quotes to read when I have a quick moment to read. I almost always run across something that hits home.
Something you said the other day hit home and I will post on it next.
God bless,
Fred

Anonymous said...

Very inspiring only God could of brought this to the light thanks for sharing