It’s not a big secret with many friends and family that I love the outdoors and this time of year I can’t be outdoors enough.  When I hunt, archery is my primary method.  So many things must come together perfectly in shooting an arrow at a target that is constantly moving.  I sometimes laugh at how little time it takes to shoot the arrow successfully compared with everything that leads up to that millisecond of time.  Money spent on equipment, land prep, hours of practice, early alarm clocks, scouting, wind direction, how to walk in and walk out, and countless other things.  All of that prep is fueled by the intent of being successful for just that millisecond of time.

Many times, on the walk back to the truck with nothing to show for the time spent in cold temps, I think on what could have been different (especially after a miss).  I always have the thought “Well, I intended to kill a deer tonight, but . . . “.  However, I usually land on the idea that “it’s just good to be outdoors”.

My intentions are valid and needed but if I miss, my intentions don’t matter.  I can’t tell you how many times I get caught up in the intentions in other areas in my life.  My intention to workout is there but facts are . . . well, you get the point.  Our intentions are the means to the end not the end.  So good intentions, or even the best intentions out there, are to help us accomplish something.  The intentions themselves are not an accomplishment.

A relationship with a dynamic God who doesn’t change but creates vast change in me, is something that demands more than intention.  Salvation through the cross of Jesus is, of course, the linchpin in our relationship with God, but the cross was not the point!  The cross was the method to restore the relationship back with The Father. 

Look at the lie the enemy has gotten us to believe.  “The cross is everything” is our thinking - to the point that we never benefit from the relationship with The Father (and to be really honest many don’t even really desire the relationship).

Some churches are built around this lie: “Salvation is everything”.  I agree that without salvation, there is nothing, but look closely to what Jesus said:

Matthew 7

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

It doesn’t say “Depart from me I never saved you”.  Salvation in this statement is understood, but intimacy with Him is the point.  You see, if we get stuck at the cross, we end up not desiring a relationship with Him or even worse, creating a construct where we wrongly think that salvation = relationship. In our world today, the cross is very symbolic. It is like the wedding band on the finger of someone in the best marriage possible.  Think about this: it’s not called a marriage band.  The vows that were taken on the wedding day began the marriage relationship I live in now; the marriage was the point, not the ring.  The giving of rings and exchanging of vows at my wedding are cherished acts because they provided the covenant relationship I now have with my wife.  Getting stuck at the cross is like getting stuck in the middle of my vows.  God wants a relationship with me and I’m stalled out at “I do.”

I keep finding myself trying to tell people how good getting to know God is versus walking them through a plan of salvation.  Salvation alone is a selfish cover-my-own-tail kind of religion.  But an intimate walk with God is the point and it is so good! Our good intentions make the cross the point because of the payment that Jesus made for us. However, there are many who have called Jesus “Lord” but have no desire to know Him.  We have missed the fact that the only reason the payment was made was so we could know Him.

So, let’s use our salvation and access this unreal, supernatural, best-ever relationship with The Creator of the Universe.