Where does your compass point?

Pastor Mark Jeske

If you are a fan of the movie series Pirates of the Caribbean, you know all about Captain Jack Sparrow’s magic compass. His compass did not point to magnetic North. It pointed toward the thing your heart most wanted at the time.

How appropriate for our age, the Age of Me. People today don’t want a moral compass to tell them the truth about their Creator’s behavioral expectations. They want shortcuts to get them what they want. Rejecting the idea of absolute truth, people today prefer relativism, i.e., each person can work out his or her morals, values, and “truth.” There is no True North anymore, only many desires and many opinions.

It is radical and countercultural that the Bible should claim to be the vehicle of absolute truth. It reveals the mysteries of human existence—where we came from, what we’re doing here, and where we’re going. Unlike Captain Jack’s compass, it doesn’t pander to whatever an individual wants it to say. It is an infallible guide to right and wrong human behaviors as well as the main power source for living a godly life: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).

No pirate captain ever found the fountain of youth. Arrgh! Scripture alone reveals our Savior Jesus Christ, who not only gives us the daily forgiveness of our sins that we must have but who also unlocks the gates of heaven for all who believe and grants us a drink of the Water of Life.

Devotion used by permission of Time of Grace®. For more information, visit timeofgrace.org