True North

One of my favorite things to do when I visit friends and even family is to take note of the things people decorate their home with or put on display. I have learned it can be the silent conversation folks have about themselves and their interests. You can learn a lot about the person by being a little more observant. For instance, if you were to visit the home of my daughter and son-in-law, you would catch on that they love Disney. In quiet corners and out-of-the-way places and bookshelves, you will see things like a little Cinderella coach, the life story of Walt Disney, or a set of Mouseketeer salt and pepper shakers in the kitchen. They are tokens of one of their passionate interests.

If you come to my home, one of the things you might see are books on travel and maps. I love maps and even have a few framed as art pieces. I inherited this passion from my dad, who included me in planning trips and mapping out routes. Later he taught me how to calculate miles per hour and gas mileage. One of the skills I learned under his tutelage was finding true north without a compass. Dad shared that we should always know how to find true north because a compass will lead you to magnetic north, which science will tell you is about a difference of about 300 miles. So I learned to find the north star and the 3 bright stars in Orion’s belt. After all, it’s essential to know what direction we are traveling. Even today, professional business and life coaches have taken the true north concept to help leaders and workers stay on track by defining true north as a fixed point in a person’s Life derived from deeply held beliefs and principles. Sort of like an internal compass.

While having an internal compass is certainly very helpful, I have been told by Christ as a child of God what my true north is. When Jesus announced He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life, He shared that He is my fixed point of direction. Not only is Christ the true starting place, but He is also the route, the only true road, and along with it and at the end of it, I will experience Life. This reminds me not only does God have plans for my life and me, but the power to take me there is found in Christ alone. Of course, Jesus, in this scripture, is referring to the route back to the Father to the place He has prepared for us in heaven. But it is also totally applicable to Life on this site, on earth in the daily. Christ did not establish himself as the Way and then leave us navigating this Life on our own like some giant cosmic scavenger hunt. He continuously remains unchanged, and His Truth does not change because He is Truth Himself. At the very essence of His character is unchanging, reliable, a constant source, and promised the Holy spirit the ultimate truthful guide.

When my daughter Erin was very young, she came to me and asked for a map one day. I gave her one, and she became distraught and described in her youthful frustrated tone that she needed the other kind of map with numbers and days on it. I laughed, and she said yes,” I need a map of days.” Erin wanted a calendar! Though it was humorous at the time, God used that to speak to me, and I have never forgotten the lesson. I still want to see a map of my days. I would like nothing better than to see events headed my Way. Certainly, all of us would have liked to plan a recalculated route to avoid trouble and delay. Who wouldn’t want to bypass Covid or fiscal challenges? Wouldn’t it be awesome to plan better to make choices and avoid regret? However, God tells us plainly that the just live by faith(Romans 1:17). It was always in God’s redemptive plan to bring us back to Him, our Creator, and the Way in which He did was through Jesus, our Way the only Truth that is Life itself.

I don’t know about you, but the world seems upside down to me. There are objectives all around me that contribute to this feeling. The news of evil acts that mankind commits toward its own. The continuous threat of natural disaster, war, financial woes, a world health crisis, and leadership corruption in high places. If ever I needed a fixed point in an ever spinning out of control existence, it’s now. Jesus was and is always True North for the soul. This Christmas, I need refreshing like never before. God has impressed me that though this planet may not recognize its own destiny as a child of God, I can remain on a stable path, guided by truthful direction, headed to a wonderful place, back home with God the Father.

While writing this, I couldn’t help but think of the Magi who followed the star, announcing it was what led them to come and worship the one born King of the Jews. (Matthew 1:24) I think I forget that as I look to Christ who is not just the Way but the Way back home, the only non-negotiable Truth in the universe and the very source of Life itself, there is the option of worship. Sometimes I am so consumed with what direction I am going and what I will find when I get there that I forget the beauty along the Way. The noise of the world drowns out the silent Holy night and makes my ears deaf to the song of Christmas. My eyes are often blinded or distracted by all that is around me. I turn my attention away from the beauty of what has been placed before me, like the innocence of a smile of a child; or the grasp of an elderly hand of an aging saint. Sometimes I am so overtaken by church stuff and trimmings that I miss the fellowship and the power of God’s manifest presence among His people. It calls us to higher truer worship of the only one worthy of it, the Savior of the world, born King of the Jews, our Immanuel, the Way the Truth, and the Life. Jesus. He is the true north of my soul. When I lose my way, all I need is to look up.

Oh, Jesus, I thank you that you left the heavens to come to earth to be our way back home. Let me trust in nothing more than your Truth. Let me walk along with nothing but your Way, and let me settle for nothing less than the abundant Life you offer and provide. This Christmas, refresh me and reorient me toward heaven. Help me lookup.

Please return for a refreshing time when 5 o’clock celebrates Christmas in the vineyard by meditating on the resurrection power.