Knowing How to Get Where We Need to Go

“Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.” (Psalm 119:133 NIV)

The GPS is a wonderful device.  Just put in the address and follow the instructions of the female voice!  Yet, there are two down sides to the GPS.  First, it can lead you to the wrong place, particularly in the mountains!  Secondly, often you don’t even know where you are because you are just following verbal directions without any true sense of location, like when you are in the passenger seat or following another car to a destination.  You just don’t pay attention to how you are getting to where you are going.

I think many live life this way.  It is much easier to just follow the directions of those close to us or of the culture at-large, but do people really know where they are or where they are going?  On campus, I see many students just following the cues of their culture, without any real idea where they are being led.  

The general effect of the GPS is that most of us no longer rely on maps or even know how to use them.  Spiritually, I think the same is true.  The tendency is to rely on others, whether it be the general culture, our peers, or even our pastors, rather than rely on the equivalent of a spiritual map—the Word of God.

It is true that we can learn a lot about where to go in life from those around us, but there is always a danger if we are exclusively dependent on them.  First of all, no one is perfect and those around us can be fallible in their directions.  If we are just blindly following them, we may end up in the wrong place.  Second, without a good sense of where we are, we don’t even know where we need to go.  We may be completely lost, but are completely unaware of that fact.  

Just as maps, and the ability to read them, still have a place in our GPS world, so do the Word of God and a good understanding of it have a key role to play in our lives.  There are so many voices out there telling us where we need to go and the best way to get there.  But the question we need to continually ask is, “Am I being led in the right direction and to the correct destination?”  You will never know unless you use the Map and know how to read it correctly.  

Today, recognize the Word of God is still the accurate map to direct you through life.  It is the only way you will truly know where you are and how to get where you need to go.

© Jim Musser 2015