Kathy and I were in town visiting our friends Phil and Beth. I was driving the four of us to a restaurant and put the address into our GPS system. Beth is a very sweet woman, if a little naïve, and had never seen a GPS system before. As we were driving to our location, a lady’s voice would announce each turn we needed to make as we approached the street. Beth was clearly impressed by this. On an impulse I kiddingly fabricated a completely farfetched scenario to explain it. “There’s a lady sitting at her computer in Des Moines who is tracking our car on her screen. She just tells me where I need to turn.” This astounded Beth and it wasn’t until the rest of us burst out laughing that she figured out that I was just putting her on.
But isn’t it wonderful to know that our lives are constantly on “God’s screen?” He is ever watching His loved ones as they continue on their respected journeys of life. “For the eyes of the Lord are intently watching all who live good lives, and he gives attention when they cry to him.” (Psalm 34:15 LB) What a wonderful assurance this is as we make our way through the “dangers, toils and snares” of life!
As believers, we have been called to the Narrow Path. It is the Word of God that directs our paths. By spending time in Scripture every day, we are receiving a constant influx of God’s mind on how to live our lives. Let’s face it; just like dumb sheep that are “prone to wander,” we humans have a built-in default system of our own which is continually attempting to lead us astray. We desperately need God’s law to be entrenched in our hearts so we will have the sense not to go off track. Those who do not have an established time in the Bible every day are extremely susceptible to being deceived.
However, so deeply embedded in our natures is this tendency to go astray, that even those who are regularly being fed by Scripture still have their times of wandering off the “straight and narrow.” In fact, there are times when God’s children wander so far off track that they don’t realize what they have done until they are completely lost and bewildered.
But the Lord is incredibly patient with us and, just like a good GPS system, He simply recalculates our position and gives us new directions to get back on track.