A Fear of Maps

Lenten Devotion for Monday, March 17

By Andrew Osborne

I’ve grown up in a very exciting time in history. For the early part of my life, everything was pretty “old-school.” We used pen and paper to write to a friend, we had a phone that couldn’t leave our house, and if we wanted directions to where we were driving, we needed a physical,paper map.

However, I always found maps confusing. There was so much on them, just looking at one would make me dizzy!

But as I got older, technology started taking over everything. Soon, GPS’s appeared and I no longer needed paper maps. I typed where I was, and where I wanted to be, and the GPS told me exactly how to get there! It got rid of all of the squiggly lines that confused me, and pointed me in the right direction.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus shared parables and stories with His disciples. Most of the disciples were pretty simple guys, so they would sometimes get confused by what Jesus was trying to tell them.

In our reading today, Jesus had told His disciples clearly that He came from the Father, and that He would soon be going back to the Father. The disciples understood what He was telling them and it cleared things up for them.

When I had to use maps to get around I sometimes would get lost and be afraid. In the same way, if we rely on things other than Jesus and His Word to show us how to live, we will become lost and alone. Thankfully, Jesus has given us a type of “GPS” for our lives, in the Bible.

By being in the Word, we will be given the peace that Jesus promises us. We may get lost and bad things may happen to us in this life, but we can be at peace knowing that through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has overcome the world!

We pray: Jesus, thank You for guiding our lives. Because You love and care for us, we can be at peace and trust You. Help us to follow Your path always. Amen.