God’s GPS

I have a love-hate relationship with my GPS because sometimes I think it takes me the wrong way. In fact, I’ve read some interesting stories about people who followed a GPS and ended up in some pretty strange places.

When the Israelites left Egypt, their GPS system was very simple: they moved when the Lord told them to move, and they went where the Lord told them to go.

Today, God directs us through His Word. It’s our GPS system, so to speak, confirmed to us by the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We can find everything we need to know about God and about life in the pages of the Bible.

Psalm 1 summarizes this for us: “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers” (verse 1 NLT).

If you want to be happy, according to Psalm 1, then don’t hang out with ungodly people, go to ungodly places, and do ungodly things.

The psalmist goes on to say, “But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do” (verses 2–3 NLT).

God has laid out His parameters for our own protection, for our own good. And as we get older, we start seeing the repercussions of the decisions people made when they were younger.

Solomon, the king of Israel, was renowned for his wisdom. With his unlimited resources, he decided to see for himself everything this world had to offer. Eventually, he came to this conclusion: “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT).

It comes down to this: God’s way is the right way.