What if your GPS is wrong?

Growing up, my dad gave me directions using landmarks. My mom gave directions according to compass points on a map.

Today, we prefer using a GPS, usually on a smartphone. Not many people use printed road maps any longer. In fact, a year ago I went into a local megastore to buy a map, as a backup to my GPS, and couldn’t find one.

There’s a problem, though: your GPS it isn’t always accurate.

According to a 2013 article in the StarTribune, there are many factors that affect the accuracy of your GPS including:

• Accuracy of the map data
• Trees and other large landmarks that may interfere with satellite reception
• Road construction

While finding yourself in the wrong physical location is frustrating, what about finding yourself on a life path completely different from your dreams?

Sometimes that difference was a conscious decision to change course. Sometimes, though, you go into auto-pilot, not paying attention to where you are headed. When you snap out of auto-pilot, you don’t recognize your surroundings. This isn’t where you intended to go at all.

It’s important to have an accurate life GPS.

For me, that life GPS is the Bible. However, just having a Bible in my home and attending church on a regular basis is not enough to keep my life GPS accurate.

To know I’m heading in the right direction, or that a “reroute” is necessary, I need to know what the Bible says. This means I’m reading my Bible every day.

Psalm 143:8 says:

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.

Psalm 119:9-11 says:

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

An accurate life GPS will guide you when you hit life’s road construction or some deep pits in the road.

Listening to your pastor explain a passage from the Bible is helpful and good. Attending a Bible study is good. But, just like the GPS on your smartphone, unless you are spending time reading the Bible yourself, you might get some inaccurate information.

In Acts 17, the apostle Paul commended the Berean Jews because they listened intently to what he taught them. But, unlike other people he spoke to, the Bereans examined the Scriptures [the Old Testament] every day to see if what Paul was teaching was true. They didn’t just take everything Paul said for truth. They verified what he said. Smart people.

If you find yourself needing a “destination” or “reroute,” decide to spend time reading the Bible each day. Tap into God’s life GPS.

Not sure where to start? Here’s a free resource to help you get started. Oh, by the way, your smartphone has an app for your life GPS.