A while back I tweeted an amazing shot of an amazing day leading archery sessions with a school residential group.

The photograph was of the archery target with a wonderful view of the Northern fells in the background.

The Northern fells have been a huge part of my life for many years, a half hour drive from my house they have been my home for hill walking, biking, gorge walking and many other activities.

As an outdoorsman it has become ingrained in me that I always take note of my surroundings and this amazing view was the first thing I noticed while setting up for the session – not only because of my love of the Northern fells but because this was a particularly stunning day.

What struck me while taking these sessions was how few of the children taking part noticed the view before it was pointed out to them.  I thought the fact that this was an archery session and the group was focusing on the target rather than the world around it, particularly appropriate.

As Christians we often find ourselves consumed by our targets and goals. This is not a bad thing as the Christian goals of spreading the gospel is, and should be the most important thing to us. However it is often the goals of society that end up driving us to focus on worldly targets such as money, possessions and status.

Ultimately we all need to take the time to step back and view the world around us, to take our eyes off the targets society tells us to aim for and to look at the bigger picture.

What targets are you aiming for? Is it the new car, the best job, the biggest salary?

Are these the targets you think you should be aiming for or is there something more?

This week take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

– Graham