The Human Homing Instinct

I have no navigational skills whatsoever. I’m always getting lost, so I like to use a GPS. But people have been misled when using a GPS. I read about a Boston woman who made a right turn onto railroad tracks at the direction of her GPS. Even worse, her van got stuck on the tracks. She and her kids were able to get out safely before the van was hit by a commuter train.

In Oregon, a couple got stranded for three days in the snow because they followed the directions of their GPS onto a remote road that was impassable. They spent two nights stuck in the wilderness.

I think GPS really stands for get potentially stranded. It can get you into trouble.

God has created certain animals with what we call a homing instinct, or a built-in GPS. And God has placed a homing instinct in us as human beings uniquely made in the image of God. We don’t know what it is at first. But we know this much. From the moment we are born, we are on a quest.

It starts with toys. We think if only we had a certain toy, then we would be happy. Then we get older. We think a certain position or relationship or thing will make us happy. Then hopefully we discover that what we’re really looking for is God. We have a homing instinct for Heaven. We have a homesickness for a place we’ve never been before. God wired us that way.

The Bible says that God “has planted eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT). Once we figure this out, once we realize that our ultimate destination as followers of Jesus is Heaven, it changes the way that we think, and it changes the way that we live.