Lord, Lead Me In The Right Direction!

"Today's Devotion" For May 2, 2006

Read: John 14:5-14; Psalm 25:1-10

LORD, LEAD ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!

"Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long." (Psalm 25:4, 5)

With the advent of "Map Quest" and similar online, internet map services, it's a generally simple matter to get directions to almost anywhere. Whether you're looking for an address in an unfamiliar part of town or taking a cross-country trip to an unfamiliar location, these map services, given the addresses - even if it's just the city and state - can get you where you want to go. You can get printed directions, maps in segments, or a combination of both. It's all really pretty "cool" if you're an old "Baby Boomer" like me, who cut his teeth on maps and compasses in Boy Scouts when that's all there was.

Funny how you can still get lost, even with all this high tech stuff. Perhaps you've noticed, from time to time, that the maps acquired from the internet sites don't always give you the quickest way or the way that has the least traffic. Sometimes I'll use one of the map services to pinpoint the exact location of the address where I want to end up, but I know how to get there the quickest way. What I've frequently found is that the directions these services proved, while they certainly pinpoint the exact location of my destination, don't always provide me with the most efficient means of getting there. Sometimes, when I've consulted multiple map services, I’ve ended up receiving different sets of directions to the same location. I've even received directions that didn't even get me where I wanted to go - a glitch in the programming I assume.

Of course, the "latest and greatest" technology is available to those who have vehicles in which Global Positioning System devices have been installed. These are the same devices that allow a missile to fly thousands of miles, enter through a doorway, and finish its mission by hitting its target head on. Such technology is even found in our cell phones so that an emergency call from a cell phone can be more accurately tracked; it's even being used as a safety feature for parents to keep tabs on where their children are - providing they also have a cell phone. Such devices are also being used to monitor various "offenders" whose movements are restricted by law.

Yet, people still get lost. So often we still can't find our way. Sometimes, it seems as if the old "map and compass" routine was easier and more "accurate." Certainly, troops in the field still utilize orienteering skills in order to reach their objectives - especially when all the sophisticated instrumentation in the world breaks down. And, when you think about it, this isn't a bad description of what disorientation and false directions Sin give us in our spiritual lives.

God gives us His Word and Spirit as our "map and compass" to lead us to Him and keep us in a forgiven, redeemed relationship with Him. In Psalm 25, David calls on the Lord to show him the right direction to go to continue on God's path to living with Him in life and forever with Him in heaven. According to John's Gospel, the apostles, represented in John 14 by Thomas and Philip, still were having a difficult time following Jesus where He was leading. In spirte of all His teaching, preaching, healing, and miracles, the disciples still weren't sure of their directions. Thomas responds to Jesus promise of a home in heaven with, "Lord, we don't know where You are going, so how can we know the way?" Philip responds to Jesus' answer that He is "the way, the truth, and the life" and that "no one comes to the Father except through" Him (John 14:6), by saying, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us" (John 14:8).

Jesus' reply to Philip is as clear a response as to where Jesus is leading as any we'll ever receive. "Don't you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a ling time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). If we want a relationship with God, we follow Jesus. If we want to know the Father's will, we follow Jesus. If we want to be with God forever in heaven, we follow Jesus. Through the power of God's Word and Spirit, we see Jesus, we know Jesus, we come to faith in Jesus, we are forgiven in Jesus, and we are led to eternal life with our Father in heaven by Jesus. By faith we cry out, "Lord, point me in the right direction!" Not only is that our cry of faith and our confident prayer, but we also trust, by faith, that Jesus will not only point us to the Father, to forgivenes, and to heaven, but He will personally lead us there, taking us by the hand as He calls us to follow Him."

Prayer: Father, without Your great love for me in sending Jesus to be Lord of my life and my Savior from Sin, Death, and Satan, I would be lost and wandering in a world where our sinful human nature seeks only what it wants for itself, with no regard for anyone else's needs. But, because You have blessed me with faith in Jesus, have showered Your forgiveness and love upon me in Him, and have promised me life eternally with You in heaven, I don't live a "lost" and "wandering" life. Instead, I have a purpose and direction in my life that is guided by Your purpose in touching the lives of others through me. Help me to be a faithful witness to Your love for and redemption of all humanity in Christ, so that by that witness I might point people toward You so that they may no longer be lost, but headed in the right direction - eternal life with You in Jesus; in Whose precious name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2006 The Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.