Utica Baptist Church, Utica, Mississippi

    ABC World News Now reported on June 16, 2011 that three women, visiting from out of town, drove their rented SUV into a swamp near Seattle, Washington. It seems they had been out to dinner, and were returning just after midnight, when they got lost near Mercer Island. Following their on-board Hertz "Never-Lost" GPS system, they turned onto a boat ramp--and kept going.
    It seems we hear a lot of these kinds of stories today. I don't have a GPS system in my vehicle, so I really can't relate, but I guess people kind of get dependent on them when they are in unfamiliar territory. The problem comes when we depend entirely on them when our eyes should tell us that there is a lake in front of us.
    There is a parable in this story, of course. Since the beginning of Creation, mankind has been depending on the wrong things for guidance. God gave one set of instructions, but Adam and Eve followed the GPS system of Satan--Gullible Prompting of Satan. And we're still doing it today. There are people who are lost and wandering around in the midnight of their lives where it is dark and confusing. Instead of listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit prompting, guiding and directing, they follow their own defective guidance systems--and wind up in the swamp.
    And, as you would expect, the Bible has something to say about this. Consider Psalm 25:4-5, which read, "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 48:14 tells us "For this is God our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end." Proverbs tells us that we should listen to the words of God, for "when you walk, they will guide you" (Proverbs 6:22). And Isaiah 58:11 promises "The Lord will guide you always…." 
    So don't wind up in the swamp of confusion and desperation! Keep your eyes on the Lord, not the systems of the world which promise much but deliver little. He will keep us on the right--and dry--path.
--Rocky Henriques

I’ve often wondered how those big floats in the Tournament of Roses Parade are steered. You can’t see anyone at a steering wheel—how do they do it?  Actually, the person steering is in a little compartment deep inside the float, where no one can see him. He can’t see a thing—he has only a seat, a steering wheel and a set of headphones. Up front, in a similar compartment, sits a man with only a microphone, looking through a very small window. When the float needs to turn a little to the left, he tells the man behind him to turn to the left. If they are drifting too far to the right, he tells the other man to make whatever adjustments are necessary. And this is the guy who guides the other as they turn the corners.

How much like that we are, as we move into a New Year! We have no idea what’s ahead of us—we are moving blindly into the next twelve months. We are like the guy at the steering wheel, not being able to see what’s in front of us, but if we listen closely, we will be able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit telling us to turn here, make an adjustment here, speed up or slow down. The guy steering the float has only one job: to listen and obey. That’s not much different from our own responsibility, as we follow the Holy Spirit.