In Andy’s younger years, he and a couple of his buddies decided to go fishing for tuna. 100 miles off the Orange Beach coastline, they would head out under the bridge and past the jetties of Perdido Pass. 100 miles out there was a very tall and well lit oil rig. The fishing there was especially good. They were exited about what they might catch.
After enough time went by ”“ and then some ”“ and no sign of the oil rig, they began to wonder if they had missed it. But how do you miss a structure that big. They would find out later, after turning back and running out of gas, that their compos was off 2 degrees. Two degrees is not much ”“ less than a sixteenth of an inch, but over a relatively long journey it can cause you to be way off.
Even if the compos had been right, there would still have been the current and the wind constantly pushing and forcing them off course. Even if they had started right, it would have required constant attention and compensation; still not a straight line, but a zigging and zagging until they reached their destination.
The application for me was our decision to be a Christian. We start as they did, excited about the difference it will make in our lives. If we start wrong we will miss our mark. But also, even if we start right (and this is where most of us live) there is a constant wind and current that tries to push and force us off course. And unless there is constant attention and compensation, unless we keep a close eye on the compos, again we can miss our mark ”“ the difference our Christianity was supposed to make in our lives.