There is a popular new sport  today that is growing in interest and in participation each  year.  It may even become a sport in the Olympic Games in the near future.  The name of the sport is "ORIENTEERING!"
       To  tell  you  the  truth   I   had  never  heard  about Orienteering until my uncle told me  he  was in charge of the Orienteering Team at  the  High  School  where  he  taught in Louisiana.  He was a retired Lt.  Colonel in the Army so I figured it had something to do with the military.
       My uncle  said that Orienteering is a sport where you are given a compass and a map written  in  a  code that has a course of from 3‑5 miles marked out on  the map.  The courses are often in National Parks and Forests  with  lots of trees and bushes and rocks and different  paths  along  the  way.  A person is supposed to take the fastest course from the beginning to the end stopping at designated check  points  along the way.  You need to be a good runner, you  need  to know how to read maps and how to use a compass  and  to make decisions based on the map and compass on which is  the best and quickest way to the finish line and not just  start  running  as  fast as you can without any guidance.
       There are many different ways to get to the checkpoints and sometimes people get  lost  on  the  course or make wrong decisions and start heading  in  the  wrong direction and get all turned around in which way they  need to go to try to get to the finish  line.   Competitors often  don’t trust their compasses or their maps and want to go their own way and often get lost and lose the race.
       I  couldn't  help  but  relate  this sport of “Orienteering”   to  our  lives  as Christians as we run the  course  of  our  lives here on this earth.  It is easy to  get  headed  in the wrong direction in our lives as well and not trust and use God’s Word and the love of Jesus Christ to guide and to direct our lives!
       Our  text   from   2   Thessalonians   3:  5  gives  us encouragement and help  for  our  lives  as  Christians as it tells us, "MAY THE  LORD  DIRECT  YOUR  HEARTS AND LIVES INTO GOD'S LOVE AND INTO CHRIST'S  PERSEVERANCE."   God is the one to turn to when we need  help  as  He will direct us with His love and enable us to stay headed in the right direction.
       Just like in orienteering where  you are given a map and a compass, in much the same  way  God  has given us a map and compass for our lives as Christians.  God  has given us the map of His Word‑ The Bible‑  which  shows  us  the way to eternal life and also how to live our lives as a Christian.
       God has also given us a  COMPASS to point us and to keep us headed in the  right  Direction  when He sent Jesus Christ who tells us in John 14: 6   "I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.  NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER  BUT BY ME!”  Thus we have a leader to follow in  our  lives  as  Christians, a leader who will lead us in the right direction.
       A television program preceding  the recent  Winter Olympics featured  blind  skiers  being  trained  for  slalom  skiing, impossible and frightening as that sounds.  They would be paired with sighted skiers and the blind skiers were taught how to make right and left turns on their skies.
       When they had  that  mastered,  they  were  taken to the slalom slope on  the  mountain,  where their sighted partners skied beside them calling out,  "LEFT!"  and "RIGHT!"  As the skiers obeyed the commands, they  were  able to negotiate the course and cross the finish line, depending completely on the sighted  skier's  word.   It  was  either  complete  trust or catastrophe.
       In this  world,  we  are  in  reality  BLIND   because of sin about what course to take in living out our Christian faith.  We must  rely  completely  on the One who is the Way, the Truth and the  Life‑  Jesus Christ himself.  His Word gives us the direction we  need to finish the course and keep on heading in the right direction!
       Oftentimes in our life  we  forget  about God's love and Christ's perseverance as shown to  us on the cross of Calvary and we forget to use the tools  and gifts God has given to us to keep us headed in the  right  direction.  We think that we don't need to read the Bible  because we have read it so much already in our life or we think that it is boring and doesn't really apply to our life  today.   Or  we think that we don't need to attend church  or Sunday School and Bible Class on  a  regular basis because there are many other things that  we  would  much  rather do.  We don't always follow the guide that God  has given to us in his Word the Bible and instead try to do it all ourselves.   As a result we often get lost in  the  forest  and underbrush of our sins and lose the hope and  comfort and strength that Jesus Christ has for us in our lives.
       That is why we need to pray to God and for each other just like 2 Thessalonians 3: 1 tells us to do.  “PRAY FOR US THAT THE MESSAGE OF THE LORD MAY SPREAD RAPIDLY AND BE HONORED.”  That is why God has put us here on this earth.  We are to share God’s Word with other people through our words, actions, attitudes and lives!  Just think about how many opportunities God gives to us to share the message of the Lord with others. 
       God wants  people to have their hearts and lives directed by  His love  because He loves us  and  wants  us  to   have  the forgiveness of our sins, peace here on earth which He alone can and does provide as well as the gift of eternal  life  with  Him and all other believers.  God directs us  by  His Spirit on the ONE PATH which leads to Him.  That path is LOVE‑ love which comes from God and begins and ends in God.   God guides us and directs us with His Word and teaches us how to love and to keep us Heading in the right direction for eternal life in heaven!
       Yet so often we  can  get  sidetracked in our journey of faith and in  reaching  our  destination.   We  have areas of contradiction and conflict along  the  way  as the devil, the world and our sinful human  flesh  try  to lead us astray and off the path to eternal  life.  We may take detours intending to get back on  the  right  path  but  often  can become lost because we have  chosen  the  wrong  direction.   We may have problems in our jobs, at  home,  with our children and wonder whatever happened and where did we  go wrong and make a wrong turn and begin to blame  God  or  leave  God out of our lives until it is almost too late.
       That is the time when  God  reaches  out  to us with His love and care and support in  His  Word  as the map for us to use to help us get  back  on  the right path.  We always need God's help in our life  because the roadblocks and challenges to our faith are too large for us to handle ourselves!
       God has given us the  right  directions to follow in our lives.  He has charted  out  the  course  for eternal life in heaven and has given us  the  tools  to  use, The Bible, Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper as the way to keep us headed in the Right Direction through the guidance of the Holy Spirit!
       Which direction are  we  headed?   Are  we  going in the right direction and having Jesus Christ guide us each step of the way.  Are we spreading the message of the Lord- the Holy Gospel in our lives with other people, especially our family and our friends!  Through faith in Jesus Christ, by God's love and by remembering all that Jesus  Christ  has  done  for us by His life, by His  willingness to do whatever was necessary to enable us to  live in heaven forever, even being willing to die on the  cross  of  Calvary to pay for our sins and His promise to take us  to be with Him forever in heaven; we can have the assurance  that  we  are  headed in the right direction toward Jesus  Christ  and  eternal  life in heaven‑ God's goal for each of us!

Copyright © 2007 by Pastor Mark Cattau.  All rights reserved.

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