A COMPASS FOR THE SOUL
Imagine a traveler navigating through the desert or through the sea. All you see is sand or water stretching out forever in every direction. The one instrument that becomes critical in that situation is the compass, because it instantly orients you and if you know that you need to travel in a particular direction, you can move forward purposefully. We find ourselves in this world, having to make choices in life though we did not choose to be here. How can we make good choices if we don’t have a compass for our souls? Jesus gives a clue as to what constitutes a good compass.
‘Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God ……’ (John 13:3)
This is a statement from the famous incident where Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. It helps us to understand that he had not gone cuckoo, in deciding to wash his disciples’ feet, which is extremely unusual, rather he had a compass for his soul which helped him take a good decision. The compass consists of three things- origin, destiny and mandate.
First, Jesus knew his origin. He knew he was God and had come from God. We need to know that we are created by God in his image. There is a reason we do not know or remember our birth or our first few years in this world. It is because that darkness helps us to link our present life with the unknown reality through faith. It is because the origin of our life is intrinsically linked to the unknown, unseen God, who created us. And that helps us to begin the process of orienting ourselves. If man thinks he has descended from the apes, his perspective of life becomes entirely different and leads him to justify the animal behavior that is so prevalent in society.
Second Jesus knew his destiny. He knew he was going back to the Father. When you know that one day you will stand before God, you orient your life differently. You take decisions that have an eternal perspective in mind. If the present life is all there is, man is justified in eating, drinking and being merry. However, none of these make man satisfied. There appears to be an emptiness within even in the midst of plenty. And when man finds his eternal connection with God through faith in Christ, there is contentment even in the absence of plenty. The sure hope that death is not the end of it all, but that with faith in Christ comes eternal life strengthens man’s compass.
Finally Jesus understood his mandate. He knew that God had put all things under his power. He was the Son of God and was given ownership of all things and authority over all else in this world. For each person, there is a different mandate. Everyone is entrusted with power to do things- it could be in his family, his job, his organization and community. Some are given more power than others, the accountability required then is all the more. But it is for man to understand what God has entrusted him to do in this world and go about fulfilling that mandate as he lives out his life here on earth.
And when man knows he is from God, will face God at the end of his life and lives out his mandate, his life compass is complete and accurate.
