Life Compass

How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. Psalm 119:9‭-‬10 MSG

It is a strange season. Slowly but steadily, we are raising a generation of people without fear and without limitations. The boundaries of science are being pushed back on a daily basis, and what we thought were in the realms of impossibility a few years ago are being taken for granted these days. Because almost anything is possible, messages on restraint and caution do not seem to sell these days. TV images and celebrity status encourage the young ones to imitate what they see and hear, without much thought to the eternal value of these things. It is good to raise people full of confidence in their person and ability, but it must never be at the expense of the fear of God.

As the world's standards shift from day to day, there is an anchor that stays strong and true. As people keep aspiring to the next 'big thing', God is reminding us again that only in Him do you have true stability and consistency. It does not matter what the world tells you or how much the world backs you up; you will still have to deal with God and his standards at a point in your life.

Today's extract puts out a question and provides an eternal answer. It is a fundamental question that all of us must answer: how do I live to please God? We have already established that the purpose of our lives is to please God, and until you do that, you are only pursuing a lie. The only standard for my life that will never change is the Word of God, the true compass for life. We have allowed the false image of the world to dictate our priorities, forgetting that one day, everything we see now will pass away. We have allowed temporal gain cloud our vision of eternal reward, and because talk of God is not popular, we avoid it because we want to be accepted and loved by all. That desire to please everyone is the quickest recipe for disaster.

God demands single minded devotion from all who will follow him. He craves a healthy relationship with all who profess to follow him or walk with him. His Word has instructions for daily living, and it is only when I heed his words and warnings that I am truly living. The world cannot push you to God because it does not know the Way; God wants me to know him intimately and follow him closely and the only way I can do that is to seek his will through his Word.  That is the only guarantee that I will not miss it in life. That is the only way to guarantee eternal life. Nothing else will work and if i miss that, nothing else will matter. The world cannot help; friends cannot force me in, popular opinion will not matter. All that will count is how I have taken God's Word and how much of it has guided my pursuits, priorities and principles. His time of favour is here.