In the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Jack Sparrow has a compass that points to whatever you want most in this world...well, not you specifically. Jack’s compass won’t point toward a pay raise at work, or a shorter line in Walmart, but whatever it is that whoever happens to be holding the compass at the time wants most. J In the movies, several people use this compass to find treasure, secret hideaways, and even the Fountain of Youth in a poorly-conceived fourth movie. They think about the thing they want most, and the compass points the direction they should go, and off they go on their merry adventure.
As Christians, we have our own compass. It points the way we should go to get the thing we want most…that, of course, hopefully being salvation, sanctification, and the security of knowing our names are written in Heaven. Any questions we have on how we should get to Heaven, or how we are expected to mature in our Faith can be answered by reading God’s Holy Word. By taking time to read and study our Bibles, we take the time to listen to God and what His Will is for each of us and all of us. Much like talking to an eight-year-old jacked up on Mountain Dew – it’s really hard to understand what you’re being told if you don’t stop and take the time and the effort to listen. A preacher citing a few verses a week, regardless of how amazing that preacher might be, is no substitute for daily reading, cross-referencing and just good, old-fashioned studying.
But back to the Pirates movies, there’s a scene at the end of the second movie where the Kraken is attacking Jack’s ship. As the camera zooms past the ship, we see Jack in the distance rowing away from the carnage and toward the temporary safety of land – because the Kraken is chasing him, not the ship. As he hears the gunshots and screams aboard the ship, he pulls out his trusty compass and gives it a look. He’s torn, and the question is clear: Which is it that he wants most? Does he want more to be safe on land or to go back and help his friends? The movie never shows which direction the compass actually points, though. We see Jack make a grimacing face, and he goes back to the ship and saves the day (well, right up until the Kraken ate him). Whether he was grimacing because what he wanted most was to go back and face life-threatening danger to help his friends or grimacing because he really wanted to run away, but knew he should go back anyway is left up to the viewer to decide.
And the same comes from reading and studying our Bible. There are times that what we really want for our own selfish reasons is going to come into direct conflict with what the Bible tells us we should do. Of course, without the afore-mentioned Bible study, you might not even know it. The Bible’s not exactly like a compass, and it takes more than a quick glance to see the right direction. But those times will come just the same…what I want to do, or what I should do? And when those times come, which voice are we going to listen to? Are we listening for the whisper? Do we listen to our own voice, or do we listen to God’s voice? One of those two voices created the universe. The other is yours. And so is the choice.
~Dwayne
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