Careful of Our Compasses

I found this great story on a website while doing some research for sermons.

It was April and the Aboriginals in a remote part of Northern Australia asked their new Elder if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was an Elder in a modern community he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky he couldn’t tell what the winter was going to be like.

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the tribe should collect firewood to be prepared. But being a practical leader, after several days he had an idea. He walked out to the telephone booth on the highway, called the Bureau of Meteorology and asked, ‘Is the coming winter in this area going to be cold?’

The meteorologist responded, ‘It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold.’

So the Elder went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared.

Conscientiously, a week later the Elder called the Bureau of Meteorology again. ‘Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?’

The meteorologist again replied, ‘Yes, it’s going to be a very cold winter.’

The Elder again went back to his community and advised them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.

Two weeks later the Elder called the Bureau again. ‘Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?’ he asked.

‘Absolutely,’ the man replied. ‘It’s looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever.’

‘How can you be so sure?’ the Elder asked.

The weatherman replied, ‘Our satellites have reported that the Aboriginals in the north are collecting firewood like crazy, and that’s always a sure sign.’

--http://sustainablelivingwise.com/forecasting-weather-patterns/

Even though the point seems rather obvious, I have been thinking about the implications of this story. In life, we sometimes are unsure about our way. We don't know where we want to be long term. We are not clear about what we might want the future to bring; so, we look for signs all around us that would indicate where we might go from here.

Some signs point us toward more prestigious jobs, fancier cars, a new group of friends, a particular brand of clothes, the list goes on and on...We judge the success of others by their appearances, and expect that others will do the same for us.

One day near the end of last year, I was playing with a compass in my office. As I held it on a flat surface I had nearby, I noticed that it was pointing the wrong way for "north." Then it dawned on me. In my "infinite wisdom," I was using one of those note pads that attach to the refridgerator -- by a magnet. Of course, the pull from the magnet was causing the compass to be unable to see true north. Instead it simply pointed to the closest thing that attracted it.

During the season of Lent, we take time to be careful of our compasses. We check to make sure that our lives are pointing -- not to the nearest fad or fancy -- but to our "True North" in Jesus Christ. He alone can guide us. He alone can steer us through the obstacles of life. He alone is worthy of having everything directed by and toward Him.

May we lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us and run with endurance the race that is set before us. [Hebrews 12:2]