GPS

So this weekend's hike was at Paynetown State Recreational Area. My girl and I took two new trails and enjoyed the crisp sunny morning. The lesson I learned today...GPS is a fine thing. The markers for the trails can be very poorly placed or sometimes not even be there at all. And these trails were no exception. Little paths that cut off and were not even on the map at all, makeshift paths due to flooding and overgrowth made this one quite the challenge at times. The saving grace was when I could see on my tracker that I was getting off of the path as I walked. Then I would have to turn around and find the right path again. I found myself continually checking my course along the way just to make sure I was on the right track. 😉 And it reminded of me of how as Christians, God's Word and the Holy Spirit is our GPS system. It guides us and shows us the path to go. Because life will have it's twists and turns, and it will have it's roadblocks and little trails that entice you off the real path that you are actually supposed to be on. You have to continually be in the Word and paying attention to what God is trying to tell you and He will keep you on the right track. If we get complacent or starting taking our own course we are bound to end of up lost and in a place we never wanted to go. Perhaps it's pride, or self-reliance or we may just be feeling pretty good because things have been smooth sailing up until that point. But we cannot lose sight of our compass, our guidebook telling us the best way to go and to follow Christ's will in our lives. There were a couple of times where I would get off the path and I would get this feeling that something wasn't quite right and I would look at my GPS, go back to my original point before things got "interesting" and found my way back to the correct path. In the same way I believe God uses the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives and give us warning signs or feelings. If something doesn't seem  quite right we need to go back to the Word and make sure that we are really on track or not. There is nothing wrong with relying on the GPS, or a compass or maps in hiking. It gets us where we need to go and prevents us from getting lost and ending up in places that we don't want to be. In the same way we can never spend too much time studying God's Guidebook for life and what He is telling us through the Holy Spirit. He wants us to stay on the right trail so that we can be safe and enjoy all that He has in store for us along the way!

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."     Psalm 119:105 (ESV)