Psalm 127:3-5
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
When I was a young boy I took some classes on Archery while attending two summer camps: Camp Attakapas Boy Scout Camp in Jena, Louisiana, and Camp Grant Walker 4-H Camp in Pollock, Louisiana. I wasn't much good at it. I remember getting stung by the string because I wasn't wearing the guards that you put on your forearms when pulling back the string and and it left some red marks on my arm. My aim and ability to hit the target were, I'm sad to admit, lacking.
Since that time, other than accompanying my sons to the archery range at Cub Scout & Boy Scout Camp at Camp Edgewood in Gillis, Louisiana, my experience at shooting arrows from a bow has been very limited. I know people who bow hunt for deer during the fall. They will set up targets in their yard in anticipation of the season opening and will practice dutifully, shooting arrow after arrow into the target in order to hone their skills in preparation for when they shoot their arrows at a real target.
You may be skilled at archery or you may be a novice like me. However, one thing is sure: if you are a parent,
You Are An Archer and Your Children are your Quiver of Arrows. I've been thinking about archery since we just released two of our "arrows" and the parallels of being a parent and being an archer releasing arrows are impossible to miss.
One of your jobs as an archer is to keep your arrows close. You have them near you, within arm's reach, everywhere you go. You don't want to entrust your arrows to other archers. Your arrows are your possessions and you've spent a lifetime shaping, sharpening and practicing with them. It is your job to take care of them. An arrow is a delicate thing. The feathers on the opposite end of the shaft than the point is called fletching, and they work to stabilize the flight of the arrow. Should the fletching get damaged, the arrow will wobble and go off course. An arrow shooting off course is not desirable and can even be dangerous!
Arrows require some sharpening. That is one of your jobs as an archer. You don't want a dull arrow. Dull arrows aren't effective weapons in battle. If you don't believe we're in a battle, you're not paying attention. Keeping an arrow sharp is a labor intensive process and must be repeated, for our arrows are constantly striking against hard targets and the edge will get dull over time. Arrows can also rust from disuse and must be sharpened to be useful in battle. Hmmmm. Sharpening is an intentional, deliberate process, performed by the skilled archer.
Proverbs 27:17
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens another.
Arrows don't just hit the target by themselves. First, we have to identify what we're trying to hit. There are many targets out there. You've heard the old saying, "Pick your battles." This is true. We have a finite number of precious arrows in our quiver. We want to make sure that we don't fire them off casually. We want to ensure that the target is worthy of our arrow. Next, we must focus on the target and not be distracted by everything else going on around us. You've seen, I'm sure, marksmen control their breathing so that their aim is accurate. Nock your arrows, archers!
We need to still ourselves and prepare for the final step: Letting go of the arrow! This is hard to do. You're releasing the arrow. It is a dangerous thing. When the arrow is still in our quiver or at least in our hands as we take aim, we have control over it. When you draw the string back and let go, where the arrow will go is largely out of your control. You are aiming for the bulls eye, right? We want our arrows to hit the mark!
But perhaps the wind will carry your arrow off target or your arrow will fall short or over-shoot the intended target. There are times where it may hit a target that you weren't even intending on hitting. The archer must lovingly walk out on the field of battle, pick up his errant arrows and inspect them. Perhaps some of the fletching is broken, causing the flight of the arrow to wobble off course. Spend time mending the arrow and re-sharpening it. It may even need to go back in the quiver for a while prior to being released again.
The bottom line is that being an archer requires years of work. It is a costly undertaking, but it is a worthy calling to be an archer. Archers spend lots of time and money preparing for the time that comes in which they'll release their arrows on the world.
An archer's work is important. An archer is on the front lines of battle. More notably, an archer is teaching and molding young, apprentice archers who will one day release their own arrows on the world. If our technique is defective, we risk passing along bad habits and poor fundamentals to future archers and we diminish the ability of
our arrows AND
their arrows hitting the bulls eye.
Take aim. Focus on the target. Shoot your arrows. May they fly straight and true. If ever the world needed some good archers, it's now.
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