Finding True North

Years ago, when my youngest son was a boy scout, we learned about orienteering. We would head out into a park or the woods and follow directions based on a compass to get us from point to point. Somewhere along the way, though, I learned that the compass we were using didn’t actually point north. No, the compass wasn’t broken and it didn’t need to be recalibrated. It’s just that magnetic north keeps shifting. In fact, they say it is moving by about 30 miles per year lately. These days it’s heading towards Siberia. While that doesn’t affect us much in the lower 48, in the northern latitudes these shifts reek havoc on navigation.

So how do you find your way around when North keeps moving? You use True North. True North is determined by the North Pole which is a fixed place that does not change. The North Star, Polaris, also points to this direction. The hard part is, you won’t find a compass that points to true north, at least not consistently. You’ll have to navigate using a map, and maybe the stars.

What’s all this got to do with today’s Bible verses?

By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,  2 Peter 2: 15

The people written about in these verses forsook the right path. They stopped heading for True North and instead started following a compass. North on that compass kept shifting based on the whims of society. What people “felt” was wrong or right. In the story of Balaam, he was walking a line. He wasn’t trying to do what was right, he was trying to figure out what he could get away with. How far could he push the envelope? How close to the line could he get without crossing over? His compass was pointing the wrong way.

So how do we find our True North? We start with what does not move, what does not change. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His word is consistent from beginning to end, even though it was written over hundreds of years and penned by dozens of different men. We point ourselves towards Him. We’re not trying to figure out how much bad stuff we can get away with and still squeak by. We’re seeking to honor and glorify God with our whole lives.

Here's the Thing: In John chapter 14 starting in verse 4 we read:

And you know the way where I am going." Thomas said, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the way to get where we want to go.