Monday, March 15, 2010

GPS and God: how are they alike

This article was posted in First Press, the bi-monthly newsletter of First Presbyterian Church, and gave no author. I thought it was a good analogy.

GPS stands for Global Positioning System, which is now available in cars to guide you to your selected destination. You enter an address and GPS will instruct you on each turn necessary for you to reach your desired destination beginning from your present location as the starting point.

Let's say you get in your car with GPS, but you don't turn it on. How can it help you?

Now if you don't have a relationship with our Lord Jesus, how can He give you guidance?

Okay, so you turn on the GPS and enter your destination. Now you turn up the radio and don't pay any attention to the GPS when it is giving you instructions to turn right. You decide to turn left. GPS now has to re-compute the instructions to get you back on course and to your destination. The penalty is that it will take longer to arrive and you may miss a critical appointment.

Now, if you have a relationship with Jesus, when He tries to tell you the path you should take, if you decide to go your own way; you may be led down a path of sin. You may also pay a penalty by ending in a place you shouldn't be. You are not available to do the work God had planned for you and you will need to repent and ask for forgiveness. Then you need new directions to get back on the right path...

I think all too often, I have the radio of life turned up, and I'm not paying attention to GPS Jesus, giving me instructions. Other times, I hear Him, plain as day, but as a sinner, I decide to turn the opposite way. It seemed like a pretty good idea at the time, right?!

My Dad and I were listening to some old Rich Kannwischer sermons, and in one of them he made the following statement...

When David had Uriah killed, he felt like a powerful King, not a sinner
When David slept with Bathseba, he felt like a lover, not a sinner

Feelings can be deceiving.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i like that analogy :)

mouser said...

Definitely and no sin is less sinful than the others.