Several years ago, most of us began using a new device that has revolutionized travel—the GPS. Nobody has to ask for directions; they are in our pockets now. You just enter an address, or even a general vicinity, and a friendly voice will give you instructions from where you are to where you want to go.
Chris bought his first GPS back in 2007. After a couple of years, he decided to get a new one and gave his old GPS to his Mom, who was planning a trip to see her daughter who had moved from Cleveland to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Trying to make it easy for Mom, he put his sister’s address in the GPS before Mom left on her trip. After a couple of hours, she stopped to get some gas and buy some snacks. She went into a gas station. When she came back to the car, the GPS had reset. She figured out how to look up recent entries and found the one that said, “Laura’s House.” Laura was her daughter’s name, so she selected “Laura’s House.” She was pleased with herself that she’d figured it out all by herself without having to call her son for help.
After about an hour of driving, Mom got concerned. She called and said, “I think something went wrong. Maybe I missed a turn or something. I seem to be going north when I should be going south.” He guided her to the map, and they figured out what happened. Mom had selected her daughter’s old address from Cleveland, which was still saved in the GPS! The GPS was giving her directions to Ohio, not North Carolina! Mom had wasted about 2 hours going in the wrong direction.
Every now and then, it’s good to reflect on whether we are heading in the right direction.
At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, he opened the scroll in the synagogue to the passage from Isaiah and like a better version of the GPS, he reminds of the right direction:
“The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the LORD
and a day of vindication by our God.”
The truth is: lostness comes in more than one form. To find a new route for a brother or a sister who has been beaten down by the world and told that they are of little importance is to proclaim release to the captive—it is to believe in freedom in the face of slavery. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, even sitting and listening to the lonely can help to show a new way. Yes, we were lost in our sin, but even the believer can get lost in their circumstances and need to find a new way home. Our Lord knew the direction he was going. Perhaps our quickest way back on the path is to simply follow Him and call other lost ones to come along. He may be the best GPS we will ever have.