I'm back in Houston but it wasn't easy. I spent Thanksgiving break with my brothers, Dave and Scott, in Kansas as well as their terrific families. On Wednesday, I drove with Dave and his wife, Sally, to Coffeyville, Kansas where we celebrated with her family at the home of her brother, Paul, and his wife, Trudy. As always, they take me in like a blood relative and make me feel welcome. (I also was blessed to spend time with my nephews Zach and Ben and their wives and children!) But Thursday afternoon, after an amazing traditional feast, I left early because of the weather reports of possible rain turning to ice with the resultant dangerous road conditions. Never having been in the fair city of Coffeyville before, I got on my laptop and did a mapblast search which told me the distance would be 581 miles or roughly fifty less than it is from Wichita. A shorter trip than usual home- I could live with that!
As I waved goodbye to Dave and Sally, I turned the car and set my old Magellan GPS for my Houston address. I was surprised when the monitor showed the trip would take more than 13 hours or roughly 3 1/2 hour more than it should have but I thought it was just some minor glitch. Let me interject here that it was going to be my last trip with this device. About five years ago, Scott gave this used Magellan to me. He had bought a new one so I would guess it was about ten years old and might never have been updated. On top of that, I was blessed with a very unexpected Amazon gift card on Monday and I had already, with Karen doing the work, ordered a new system, a Garmin. But as I made my way down unfamiliar roads, I became concerned as it kept pointing me towards Oklahoma City and I knew that wasn't right. Still, I had no backup and guessed I would veer south as I neared OKC but it didn't happen. Suspicious but not convinced, I headed south to Dallas from Oklahoma City. The final straw came when in the middle of Big D, the Magellan signaled me to exit and go to Fort Worth, well out of the way. Not paying great attention, I did what it said. It took me several miles to turn around and get back on I-35 S. From that point on, the Magellan just went haywire, directing me to head in directions of which Houston had no part and exit every mile or so. Finally, I just unplugged it and sentenced it to a future in the gadget graveyard. I arrived back at my apartment about 12 1/2 hours after I left Paul and Trudy's house. Even accounting for driving slowly due to the rain, I have to give the Magellan credit. She (have to go with the female here due to the directional voice) knew more than I did.
When do we stop listening to a trusted voice which no longer can be trusted? With me, it was one trip too many but that's strictly in the travel mode. Jesus taught the road to heaven was narrow and few find it- sometimes the finding it requires some guidance from other believers. In 2 Peter 2, the apostle charges that false teachers have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam, leading the weak into sin. In John 14, Jesus claimed He was The Way to the Father- no other path would take you to His side. The Savior left no room for shortcuts or alternate routes. In its defense, my Magellan had led me to where I needed to go which made it difficult to give up on it. But if I'm being led in the wrong direction, it's time to make a change in my adviser. I don't want to be on that highway that leads to destruction. Jesus said it's already crowded.
Applicable quote of the day # 1:
“Just when the devil tries to steer me in the wrong direction I learn how powerful God's GPS really is. (Evil will not re-route my journey). He has mapped my success to the final destination.”
Carlos Wallace
Applicable quote of the day # 2:
“With the current technology, I now agree with non-believers. We should no longer say the Bible is life's road-map, the Bible is life's GPS!”
Ibrahim Emile
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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