These days, it should be a lot harder to get lost.
With the invention of the GPS, or Global Positioning System, our cars can now be fitted with SatNavs or Tom-Toms or Navmans that we can input our desired destination into, and it will actually audibly direct us when and where to turn to reach our journey's end.
GPS receivers use signals from satellites which orbit the Earth at known positions. Each satellite has a unique identification code and sends a signal which the GPS receiver software can use to calculate the distance from the device to that satellite.
The software can then pinpoint the device’s location on a map.
But the applications of GPS have extended beyond our vehicles to our wrists, via watch-type devices, or to our smart phones. Theoretically, we can always know exactly where we are, and be able to plot a course to where we want to go.
This all presumes, of course, that the mapping that has been done is accurate. I’ve heard plenty of stories of people’s GPS devices trying to take them through the middle of paddocks, or along streets and roads that don’t exist, or big trucks finding themselves at a dead-end in a narrow street. A mis-spelling when entering a destination last week had my maps ‘app’ trying to send me to England instead of a neighbouring suburb.
As well as accurate maps, the other variable for arriving correctly at our chosen destination via GPS is our willingness to listen and obey the instructions. Recently I thought I knew better than my English-accented friend, so continued to ignore his advice and just went my own way (which I still say was quicker!)
When we think of our lives, our human existence on the earth, all of us one day will come to an end, a destination, a finishing point. While some are preparing for an afterlife spent in a coffin, or as ash kept in a jar or strewn in a favourite place, I’m preparing for an afterlife spent in a place called heaven. That’s my chosen destination. My course is being plotted with the help of The Bible, God’s ‘map’ for living fruitful lives on earth and eternal life in heaven. It is a ‘lamp for my feet and a light for my path’. It steers me onto the Jesus road and ‘leads me in the way everlasting’. I know where I’m headed, and thanks to the Bible, the best way to get there.
Perhaps you’re wandering aimlessly through life, either unsure of your destination, or ignoring the voice on your GPS directing you towards eternity. Maybe you’re feeling lost, or without a purpose. Set your destination, trust in God’s map, and trust God’s voice. And one day, when your earthly journey has ended, you’ll hear the words “you have arrived at your destination”.
www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington
