Don’t Ask For Directions Or Follow Instructions!
If you don’t ask for directions, you may be lost longer than you want to admit. Yet, some of us resist directions or following them when they’re offered. Others may dismiss the advice given them and get a second or third opinion. Finally, some blindly let their GPS guide them where they want to go.
Everyone needs some guidance during their travels through life. When we seek help, we often look for the newest or latest resources to help us. However, because something is from ancient times doesn’t mean it should be ignored or is valueless. On the contrary, an old instrument or book may be what we need to direct us.
In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set out to cross Antarctica from one side to the other across the South Pole. Unfortunately, disaster struck, and his ship, the Endurance, became entrapped in ice and eventually sank. Shackleton and his crew were marooned on an island with little hope of being rescued.
Shackleton and five others set out in a twenty-foot lifeboat on an eight-hundred-mile journey to get help at South Georgia Island. Using only the ancient navigational tools of a compass and sextant, captain Frank Worsley navigated the lifeboat to the island and the support they needed. Shackleton got another ship and returned and rescued the crew left behind.
The first magnetic compass was invented in China during the Han Dynasty between the second century BC and the first century AD. It was during the 12th Century, the compass came to be used extensively in navigating ships. It was and is valuable.
When you need spiritual guidance, do not dismiss or reject the Bible because it is ancient or old. Michael Smith catches the timeless Spirit of the Bible when he writes, “Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world. Words of life, words of hope, give us strength, help us cope. Holy words of our faith, handed down to this age, came to us through sacrifice. Oh, heed the faithful words of Christ.” (Song: Ancient Words)
Unlike other books, the Bible or Holy Scripture is God’s Word and truth. This truth is made known through the two parts of the Bible: the Old Testament, which promises the coming Savior, and the New Testament, which tells of the Savior who has come.
In John 5:39, Jesus said to those who wanted to kill him because He broke Sabbath rules and called God his own Father, making himself (Jesus) equal to God: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think by them you have eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
God reveals himself through the Holy Scriptures and His gift of salvation in Christ. The acts of Jesus are written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing, you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)
The Bible can direct and guide us through life as God’s objective source of truth. The Bible is a compass to guide us in life and to our home in heaven, but we must trust the Bible more than our feelings and the contrary advice of others who reject the Bible.
