Reflection:  I recently met some new friends for dinner. I programmed the address into my GPS and it guided me all the way there. This has become fairly common practice for people as they drive, walk, run, cycle or even catch public transport. I think we forget though, that fundamentally a GPS is a device for telling us where we are. Without accurate ‘positioning’ none of the directions would make any sense and we would never get to our destination.

As the Church and as Christians, the kingdom of God is our destination. But like a GPS the destination isn’t relevant unless we know where we are. We need to know the times, we need to be honest about the challenges and the difficulties we face, the terrain we have to travel. Then we need to remember who is on our side and listen to his directions.

Jesus calls us each to live in his kingdom of light and love, but unless we are honest about where we are, unless we are open and vulnerable with God, bringing our real lives before him for guidance and direction, then we are just going to get more lost.

Prayer:  God, give me the courage to be honest about where I am at in life. Search through my heart and mind and teach me the truth about myself and guide me along the pathway of your light and love. May this light and love shine ever brighter as I live a more effective life in these times.

We are reading the Bible with NAYBA Australia. Major Phil Inglis is the Faith Communities Development Coordinator (Online) for The Salvation Army. Phil also helped lead the inaugural NAYBA Impact Audit in Illawarra in 2020, which sought to measure the collective social impact value of the Church to the City of Wollongong & Shellharbour.