The Bible is a road map for our lives

I've just purchased a new GPS unit. Ever since I've opened the box and turned on the screen I've been itching to try it out on a road trip. The open road, open sunroof, my wife and the British woman in the GPS telling me, "Turn left here."

Road trips are as much as the American experience as baseball and apple pie. My best road trips were not impromptu. Those always ended up at some fast-food restaurant just down the street wondering where to go only to wind up back home. The best road trips were the ones with a plan set in motion before the car started, where I found an article or someone said, "you've got to see this" and set out a plan to see that thing.

Those road trips remind me a lot of what God desires for our lives. He doesn't want us to wander without any intention or purpose for our lives, like a hobo in an old movie just going wherever the train takes him. God moves with intentionality and purpose, not chaos. How much more does the God of order want to remove the chaos from our lives? So he laid out a road map for us.

In this story, Nehemiah travels to his home city -- which until the day he arrived he had never seen -- for the purpose of rebuilding the walls and restoring the people. He sets out for home and takes four months to get there. Before he left he laid out a map of what he is going to do, what he will need to get it done, and how long he will be gone. In this process of the work he realizes that not only did he need a road map but that other people do as well. They needed a road map to restore their souls.

In a large open assembly from the morning to midday the Word of God is read. It is not just read but it is made clear and applied to lives of everyone there that day.

The Bible is a road map. It tells us more about ourselves, the problem of human condition and joy than we could ever imagine. Most importantly, it leads us to know God and live out who he has created us to be. If you'll open up a map you'll be surprised where it takes you.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.