By Jeremy Whittaker
"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." - Psalms 119:105 NIV
We all know the types of persons who receive the most fame, attention and praise via the contemporary media in this present-day culture. Recording artists, screen actors, sports stars and social media personalities are constantly followed and every part of their lives is broadcasted on all media outlets. It is quite evident that persons who invent and engineer practical, helpful devices that integrate directly into everyday life, do not receive the same amount of appreciation for their work. However today I want to shed some spotlight on all the persons who played huge parts in bringing the global positioning system (GPS) system to life!
There is a hot debate going on, concerning whom to ultimately credit with the invention of the GPS, mainly among Roger Easton, Ivan Getting, Bradford Parkinson and Dr. Gladys West. Each of these individuals provided separate crucial pieces to the puzzle at different times, which led to the GPS’ ultimate inception. However in my opinion, they are all the real MVP's of this age! (Most Valuable Player)
A few years ago my friend was married on the beautiful isle of Jamaica. However, I cannot understate just how much more massive Jamaica is than Barbados! That massive difference in size makes travelling in Jamaica vastly different to travelling in Barbados.
In Barbados, directions from a local, no matter how obscure they may be (yes turn right at the brown cow, just after the second green fence), can get the job done. That is because Barbados is that small; and as such, even wrong turns do not take travelers far from the desired location. I am confident that directions from a local are less likely to work in a country the size of Jamaica or bigger. That is why when the groom squad got to hitting the town, we had to bite the bullet, accept the charges from turning on roaming on our phones and use the GPS!
Some argued that Waze was the better GPS; while some argued for Google Maps. What was undeniable however was that the GPS, no matter the form, was the single most helpful key to travelling around Jamaica. It provided the guidance needed to navigate this totally unknown territory. I wonder what life was like before GPS. I am told that hours had to be spent planning the perfect/exact route with a map that was truly difficult to understand and follow. I worry about travelling in those times, because what if you spent a whole week planning your route only to find that a road on that route was closed, or blocked? That is horror-story worthy!
If you have any experience with modern GPS systems, you would know that they offer a preferred route, which is a route that the GPS projects as being the easiest, fastest or even safest. This technology is honestly so advanced; GPS technology has even gotten to the point where it can account for major road works, accidents and traffic jams in split-second time. The GPS of today is then able to recalculate your route, accounting for whatever eventuality, then make changes to your route and give you a different, better alternative. GPS systems make the commute as effortless as possible for travelers. It is my opinion that GPS systems are God's gifts to travelers!
Think about it though, isn't the GPS of today just like the Word of God? Psalms 119 says the word of God is the light to our feet. God uses his word to literally tell us what direction to go. Living life is like travelling in Jamaica to a Barbadian, in that it can be quite overwhelming. In that manner, it is not enough to live life by hearsay and someone else’s advice (just as one can while travelling in Barbados). When travelling in Jamaica, you simply cannot give directions by word-of-mouth; especially considering that some commutes may be longer than 25 km! Those directions definitely cannot be given with great precision and accuracy at those kinds of distances. I guarantee that at that kind of distance you will get lost with directions from word-of-mouth. How much less then can advice and hearsay satisfy to give the directions we need for life and life in godliness? You can't live 80, 40, or even 2 years without getting lost in life unless you use the GPS, the word of God. It isn’t even difficult to imagine that in the space of 10 minutes, someone, something, some event could occur to cause you to change from the original, calculated route of least resistance. These unpredictable incidents will make all the pre-planning for the journey, null and vain (just like travelling was before GPS). The Word of God like modern GPS can direct you to the destination regardless of what wrong turn is made or whatever obstacle is presented.
I want to talk a little about a situation that occurred in Jamaica also concerning GPSs’. The groom squad was set to meet up for dinner, at a restaurant named Scotchies (which serves up some of the best jerk around). We were travelling in two sets of vehicles. It would be remiss of me not to explain that the restaurant no longer goes by the name Scotchies. Instead it is called the Pepperwood Jerk Center in 2nd Chelsea Avenue, Kingston, Jamaica. So, being reasonable fellows we thought that since we didn’t see a restaurant named Scotchies on the GPS that we would look for restaurants with similar names, and go to that one. It dawned on us as we drove further away from Kingston that we may not be going to the right restaurant. That conclusion was cemented when the GPS lead us along a dark and lonely road. We thought it best to stop, call our friends and ask the million dollar question: ‘where is this restaurant?’ With the right restaurant name now, and the necessary corrections to the name of the destination in the GPS, it set us in the right direction finally! You already know how guys are; and so you probably have guessed by now, that we argued about who was to blame the entire ride back.
It hit me in that moment that the GPS can take you to any destination, but only when you input the correct location. The word of God does not share that problem with the GPS, it leads you to one thing, Christ (2 Tim 3: 16 -17). Therefore the bible will not work when it is used wrongly. The bible does not lead you to a life on earth of peace, of fame and popularity or to riches. It does however give all instruction for handling or accomplishing some, if not all of those things; but it also warns that those things are temporary here on earth and must fade away. Instead the bible leads the pilgrim on this journey, called life, to the eternal. If we are unsure about our destination or wavering in our desire of where to go; the Bible will illuminate the path for you and show you where to go (if you let it).
It is not uncommon in this culture to desire belongings that other persons have. However many of the persons who have those possessions have openly professed to feeling empty, even though they have those possessions in abundance, such as fame, notoriety, money etc. Christ promises fullness and no one who finds Christ, finds emptiness. Instead they find a Savior who fills immediately and continues to fill with time.
So I encourage everyone that the word of God is the GPS for this life. I guarantee that no other media, be it books, videos, gurus, advice, can ever replace the bible for the directions it offers to a life satisfied, and life eternal. So I urge you to grab your bible today and allow it to plot out your route for you along this massive commute called life.
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