“Take me to the highest point on the mountain. It’s northeast. Here’s your compass. You lead; I’ll follow.” Baseball, tragedy and school mentoring had connected our lives. We’ve known each other for five years, and they’d never been hiking, so they shot me a suspicious glance to see if I was tricking them. I told them I wasn’t. Their eyes widened, they studied the compass, and up the trail we went.

Heavy rain had soaked Turkey Mountain the previous day, so we traipsed through lots of mud. (I called their moms to warn them that their shoes would need some TLC.) Every ten minutes or so, we’d come to a fork in the road. The boys would stop, carefully study their compass, and then look to me for assurance. I kept a poker face. But as we got closer, I did give them one clue: “You are getting close. So keep looking at the compass, but also look around at the terrain. You need to study both the instrument and your surroundings.

After navigating a rocky section, the boys scurried up a boulder and proclaimed, “I think we made it.” Indeed, they had. We took some moments to celebrate their success, and to also appreciate the scenic view.

How will you find the peak – the place God intends you to go? You’ve never been down that path before, so will you simply trust your instincts? Will you stick with the widest, easiest path? Will you take the advice of your friends? What will you do?

You won’t get there by watching your own feet, or sketching your own map. Profesor Umberto Eco, in Baudolino, tells of a man who loses everything. The man’s great skill is telling lies. He tells one after another in order to stay alive. Soon, his lies even lead to wealth. He begins sharing exquisite tales about the location of the Holy Grail. He forges maps, documents, letters and evidence. He stops at nothing to convince others of his lies. Eventually, he sets out on a quest with eleven others to find the kingdom and the treasured relic, following the very maps he himself forged. He believes his own lies. He follows his own deception.

Have you looked around long enough to be sure you aren’t following your own, self-created map? Does your compass point to True North?

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (II Timothy 4:3).

If all roads led to a coffee shop, that would be cool with me. But they don’t, so I need directions. You need directions too. You need God’s unchanging Word. I’m constantly in awe of how true the words of the Bible still are. Even though they were written thousands of years ago, they remain spot on for our society. I can’t read Proverbs without nodding my head, and at the same time feeling conviction.

When the boys were leading our hike, the more closely they followed the compass, the more sense they could make of their surroundings. They were able to look around and figure out that a path that wound to the left would probably wind back to the right. We too will be able to better make sense of our world when our directions are secure.

You can watch your own feet, or you can take your best guess, but life and eternity deserve more than our impulse choosing of a trail. Find what is true. Find what is proven. Find Who is Truth.

 

The second pic was taken by David Schuttler and used with permission. You can see more of his photos here.

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