Perceptions #4

Do We Need A New Star?

by Doug Strange

A ship's captain hired a crew member who boasted of his nautical experience and knowledge of the sea. The captain placed his confidence in his new seaman and turned the steering apparatus over to him in the middle of the night. Before leaving the bridge he told the new crew member, "Do you see the star ahead? It's the North Star. Keep the ship headed directly toward the North Star and you'll be on target. If anything goes wrong, call me immediately."

The man at the helm committed two dangerous errors. He drank some whiskey and he fell asleep at the wheel. When he woke, he saw that the ship was about 130 degrees off course. The North Star was not straight ahead. It now appeared on his starboard side. He woke up the captain, announced his predicament and asked, "Could you give me a new star?"

Polaris, "the North Star" is the pole star. Throughout all recorded history, navigators in the northern hemisphere have depended on Polaris for their sense of direction. As people of God, our North Star is the Bible. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

When we are faced with questions of truth and error, we ask, "What does the Bible say?" When we deal with morality, right and wrong, ethics, we ask "What does the Bible say?" When we are called on to evaluate new ideas, new philosophies, new ideologies, proposed new standards of morality, we ask, "What does the Bible say?" We do not ask, "What does our tradition say? What have we always believed? What do prominent brethren say?" The only criterion by which we evaluate truth and error is the Word of God.

The human race does not need a new star. God's word is our Polaris. We need to read it, study it honestly and apply it to our lives.

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