In days of yore, when sailors embarked on a voyage, the most important equipment on board was the mariner’s compass.
It was used to steer the way to the sailor’s destination, whatever the conditions encountered en route.
Similarly, when we embark on our spiritual journey, we need a spiritual compass to help us steer our way through the “minefield” of life’s hurts, failures, and defeats that the Great Deceiver uses to lead us astray.
Man has always used his conscience as a guide in his spiritual journey, but in today’s world of compromise, our conscience is not always a sure guide.
It is like the magnetic compass needle that points to the magnetic North, but never the true North; there is always a magnetic variation, which needs to be corrected by constant reference to the mariner’s chart.
Similarly, our conscience needs to be constantly corrected by reference to the Word of God. The Bible is, therefore, the spiritual compass of our life.
Use the spiritual compass to enter into a personal relationship with God so that his mind and heart are revealed to you.
This can be accomplished if you read the Bible, not only intellectually, but with a deep longing in your heart for God to reveal himself to you.
Use the spiritual compass to nourish your spirit and to avoid being infected by the values, principles, and ideas of the world that are contrary to the will of God.
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” ( Mt 4:4 ).
Use the spiritual compass to learn God’s will in your life. Although God speaks to us in various ways, the Scriptures are the one sure place where God reveals his will to us.
And he does so in two ways:
(1) When we study God’s Word, it will reveal to us our basic vocation and what we are going to do with our lives, just as God revealed to aged Abram, in Haran, a new direction in his life ( Gen 12:1 ).
As we read and reflect on the Scriptures, we will realize that God is never ever finished with us, for he constantly extends and expands the horizons of our life.
(2) When we study God’s Word, it will help us to recognize his presence and to hear the promptings of his Holy Spirit, amidst all the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Use the spiritual compass to grow in your Christian faith. Somebody said that the word BIBLE is an acronym for “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth“.
How true! Our lives have been created by God and he is the best person to teach us what we are to do, not only when we have a break-down in our lives, but also what to do to attain the Kingdom of Heaven.
Use the spiritual compass to grow in your prayer life and have a regular dialogue with God. Prayer and the Word of God go together.
They are like the two wires of a telephone connection which makes it possible for us to listen to God, and to speak to him.
The more we listen to the voice of God and understand what he wants to reveal to us, the more our prayer becomes inspired and soaked with the Word of God, which is pleasing to him.
And a regular dialogue with our Creator will not only make us immune to all the hurts, failures, and defeats in life but also put new life and encouragement into us if we ever happen to stumble in our walk in this world.
