I am directionally-challenged and I thank God for GPS, because before GPS I would always get lost (and even with GPS, I still get lost). Well, there was one time when I was 21, way before GPS, I was driving to an interview in Malvern. I wanted to make sure I got there very early for the interview. I thought everything was going well, until I saw signs saying I was getting close to New Jersey. I panicked, found a gas station, and humbly asked for directions back to Malvern. I estimated that I had gone at least 40 miles in the wrong direction. Thankfully, I had allowed myself enough time that everything worked out and I arrived in time for my interview – and it worked out only because I realized I had made a huge mistake, stopped what I was doing, turned around, and went the other way.
I share this story because this is the first thing that we must do when we sin in order to be saved. There is a word for it: repent – turn back. But before we can even repent, we need to know which way to go. As Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” When the Israelites were called to the promise land, they had to repent in the desert. Moses had a vision that was clear leading the Israelites out of Egypt and unfortunately not everyone came along. Some stayed behind, as he said, “You have two paths to go to in this life. One that will lead to death and doom and the other is life and prosperity.”
In life, it seems a very obvious choice, but the problem is that we can get so caught up in the comforts of this temporal life that we may think we are traveling in the right direction, but in truth we may not be. That is why Jesus says, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Christ’s path is challenging because it humbles us to ask God in prayer “Am I still going the right way?” We must be humble and open enough to hear him say” “Yes,” or “No.”
Where we must be honest with ourselves and him and what we must ask are:
- What am I attached to in life?
- Am I attached to a sin?
- Am I attached to a certain agenda even if it’s good?
- Am I attached to being right and keeping score of all the things that I do for God or others?
- Am I attached to being comfortable?
- How many of us are attached to Him?
Our vison statement that we instituted a few years ago now can be viewed as a foundation to repentance.
“Knowing Jesus is the best Gift any person can receive; that we have encountered him is the best thing that has happened in our lives, and making Him known by our words and deeds is our joy.”
We all have things that we need to work on and that is why an encounter with the Lord is so important when we repent. Because Jesus doesn’t point a figure at us for our wrongdoing, rather it is about us trying not to offend the person whom we love the most. This vision can reorient our GPS systems so that we can see if we are going in the right direction with him. As we continue to together on this journey towards heaven, let us ask for the grace of humility so that we are open even more to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him.