Off Course

And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:24)

Two Florida men charted a course and drove their fishing boat out into the Gulf of Mexico. Using the boat’s compass, they headed to deep waters 60 miles offshore where they hoped to catch grouper. When they arrived at what they thought was the right place, they turned on their depth finder and realized they were nowhere near their target. They discovered that one of them had laid a flashlight near the ship’s compass, and the attached magnet had affected the reading.

Just as that magnet changed the compass, so our sinful hearts can influence our thinking.

We too can be self-deceived, and must continually ask the Lord to expose the inner motives that cast shadows across our minds and dim our spiritual discernment.

When you get “off course” and think you are “on course” it is a sad state of deception…

With His help, we can get back on course. To avoid self-deception, seek God’s direction.

Often I have walked in my own way,
Trusting in my self-deceiving heart;
Now I realize that I must pray,
“Lord, from Your way I will not depart.”
–Hess

The sins that would entangle us
Must never be ignored;
If we do not get rid of them
They’ll pierce us like a sword.
–Sper