As some of you know, I am involved in the shooting sports. IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association) has lots of rules and procedures that it requires you to follow and replicates actual situations in which you might find yourself where lethal protection may be required. It attempts to prepare you for these situations so that you can defend yourself and any innocent people that may be around. A few years ago, they re-evaluated the rules and added what they called a flat-footed reload. What this meant was that if you ran out of cartridges during a course of fire you could not reload on the move. You either had to stop and re-load or run to cover and reload. This caused quite a stir in the sport because let’s face it, it’s a stupid rule and one you would never follow if you were in an actual gun fight! There’s even a saying about “getting caught flat-footed.” It means that you are caught unprepared or taken by surprise. It’s a sports term used to remind players that they should be on their guard and ready to act, a fitting description for anyone that carries a gun.
If you watch movies at all, you are awed by actors moving from one position to another shooting as they go. If they run out of ammo, they simply drop their mag and continue shooting while getting to their desired spot. It would be absolutely stupid to stop in the open and reload. Running with an empty gun is a better option, but who would do that when they had ammunition on their belt that they could be reloading while they are running? Standing flat-footed to reload would give your attacker a keen advantage and put you in a very vulnerable position. I received several procedural penalties while shooting in competition because I forgot to stop and reload, even if I was already behind cover. It just felt awkward to do that and made no shooting sense whatsoever!
Fortunately, after a firestorm of complaints which resulted in some people just leaving the sport altogether, the powers that be decided to eliminate the flat-footed reload from the rules. No more flat-footed reloads! YEA!!! It feels so good to write about it in the past tense! It feels even better to not have to think about it while I’m running and gunning!
To the Christian, sin is like a flat-footed reload. It tries to catch you by surprise when you are unprepared. If you do sin, that then leaves you vulnerable and open to attack and harm. It puts you in the vulnerable position of becoming the devil’s punching bag. Now, if you are saying to me “I sin every day” then you had better “examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.” A Christian does not have to nor should they sin everyday. Sin should feel awkward to a sinner just like stopping in the open to reload feels to the shooter. Sure, I sin sometimes but I do not presumptuously sin everyday. I make mistakes or get caught in a weak moment, but Christians should not have weak moments every day either. God has “given us ALL things pertaining to life and Godliness. It says “life.” The wages of sin is death, not life. Godliness is simply the absence of sin. If you are a saint (a godly one), sin is absent. Grace is not the covering of sin. Grace is the power to live above sin! God does not cover our sins. He cleanses them away! Jesus did not carry us to the cross. He took our sin away from us and carried it to the cross.
“Would you be free from your burden of sin? Would you be free from your passion and pride? There’s WONDERFUL power in the blood!” Surely God would not sacrifice His precious, perfect son so that we could remain what we were but call ourselves something different? We are NEW creatures. We have the mind of Christ. Our desires change and become like His desires. In our flesh we cannot live right. That’s why we needed a Savior because we will, from scripture, clearly be judged for our deeds! (Look it up! That’s what the Bible says!) Just wanting or wishing or desiring to live right is not enough. We are what we do, plain and simple.
So today, I am thankful that I no longer have to stand in the open and try to reload either physically or spiritually. My ammo is on my belt. I have girded my loins with truth. That is what keeps me from being caught unprepared in this spiritual battle we call life. Thank God for wonderful blood of Christ!
If you watch movies at all, you are awed by actors moving from one position to another shooting as they go. If they run out of ammo, they simply drop their mag and continue shooting while getting to their desired spot. It would be absolutely stupid to stop in the open and reload. Running with an empty gun is a better option, but who would do that when they had ammunition on their belt that they could be reloading while they are running? Standing flat-footed to reload would give your attacker a keen advantage and put you in a very vulnerable position. I received several procedural penalties while shooting in competition because I forgot to stop and reload, even if I was already behind cover. It just felt awkward to do that and made no shooting sense whatsoever!
Fortunately, after a firestorm of complaints which resulted in some people just leaving the sport altogether, the powers that be decided to eliminate the flat-footed reload from the rules. No more flat-footed reloads! YEA!!! It feels so good to write about it in the past tense! It feels even better to not have to think about it while I’m running and gunning!
To the Christian, sin is like a flat-footed reload. It tries to catch you by surprise when you are unprepared. If you do sin, that then leaves you vulnerable and open to attack and harm. It puts you in the vulnerable position of becoming the devil’s punching bag. Now, if you are saying to me “I sin every day” then you had better “examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.” A Christian does not have to nor should they sin everyday. Sin should feel awkward to a sinner just like stopping in the open to reload feels to the shooter. Sure, I sin sometimes but I do not presumptuously sin everyday. I make mistakes or get caught in a weak moment, but Christians should not have weak moments every day either. God has “given us ALL things pertaining to life and Godliness. It says “life.” The wages of sin is death, not life. Godliness is simply the absence of sin. If you are a saint (a godly one), sin is absent. Grace is not the covering of sin. Grace is the power to live above sin! God does not cover our sins. He cleanses them away! Jesus did not carry us to the cross. He took our sin away from us and carried it to the cross.
“Would you be free from your burden of sin? Would you be free from your passion and pride? There’s WONDERFUL power in the blood!” Surely God would not sacrifice His precious, perfect son so that we could remain what we were but call ourselves something different? We are NEW creatures. We have the mind of Christ. Our desires change and become like His desires. In our flesh we cannot live right. That’s why we needed a Savior because we will, from scripture, clearly be judged for our deeds! (Look it up! That’s what the Bible says!) Just wanting or wishing or desiring to live right is not enough. We are what we do, plain and simple.
So today, I am thankful that I no longer have to stand in the open and try to reload either physically or spiritually. My ammo is on my belt. I have girded my loins with truth. That is what keeps me from being caught unprepared in this spiritual battle we call life. Thank God for wonderful blood of Christ!
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