Living Monstrance

I recently picked up my brother from the airport, and as we drove home to my parents’ house, he suggested that he take out the new GPS that he had used on his trip to Washington, DC, for me to play with.  “You can put in anything, like a list of restaurants, and it will guide you to the nearest one.”  I said,  “We’re going to Dunkin Donuts - we’ll overload and confuse it.”

So anyway, he began to tell me how useful it was for him driving in DC.  “We could go anywhere.  Just punch in the destination, and go.  No worries, no confusion.  It was awesome.”  I said, “So, you were free?”  He said, “Yeah.”

A fork came up in the road.  “I think it said to go right,” he said.  I couldn’t tell by looking at the screen.  We went right.  All of a sudden, the machine said, in its pleasant voice, “Re-calculating.”  “I think we took the wrong turn,” I said.

But that didn’t matter.  The GPS could still direct us to our destination from exactly where we were.  He said, “Yeah, a few times we went the wrong way in DC, and it re-calculates from your new position.  You can never be lost.” 

You are never lost and confused and worried with that GPS.  You are relieved of that burden, because it never quits guiding you, wherever you are or wherever you go.  You are free to go.

The Lord is the Good Shepherd always guiding us home.  “My sheep hear my voice.  And I know them, and they follow me.” (Jn 10:27)  He is always there, calling out directions to us.  Why?  Because He wants us not to be lost and confused and worried.  He wants us to be relieved of that burden, and so He never quits on us, even after we take wrong turns, or even if we’ve stopped listening - wherever we are and wherever we go.  He is always “Re-calculating.”

When you listen to Him, you are free to go.