Landmark

As taught us in grade school, a landmark is a feature of a landscape or specific place that is easily seen and recognized from a distance. 

We are all familiar with famous landmarks such as Paris’ Eiffel tower, New York’s Statue of Liberty, Agra’s Taj Mahal, London’s Stonehenge, Pisa’s Leaning Tower, etc. When you see those landmarks, there is no doubt in your mind where you are. 

Before technology came in with navigation tools in our mobile phone, we needed a landmark to go to places we’d never been to before.  We drew directions on paper and asked for a specific landmark close to our destination. 

“Beside the pink four-story building . . .” “Just behind the grade school . . .” “Two blocks from SM Mall. . .” etc.  

Despite technological help, many people today still resort to specifying landmarks, because they are easy to spot. They provide guidance, pointing us to the right direction. 

Guidance is certainly what every growing child needs. In fact, even adults with Ph.Ds or years of experience also need guidance for things outside their area of expertise. 

Jesus addressed people’s need for guidance when He met and talked to His disciples about His impending departure from earth in the Upper Room. He said (John 16:13 NLT), “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”  

God’s Spirit is as distinct as a landmark! 

In this world of disunity, where guidance is desperately needed, God's landmark could be obscured by clouds of edgy ideologies, skewed Bible interpretations, and new expressions demanded by political correctness, and the conflicted emotions within us. 

How then can we see that landmark clearly? 

We need to revisit God’s word, our written map. The Holy Spirit clearly points to specific principles that reveal the way of the Lord. Our feelings and affections will always lead to the wrong road without the grace of discernment to see this landmark clearly, minus the clouds. 

Because God gives us freedom to make decisions where there are no moral laws to be broken, we are given several options. The Holy Spirit would certainly bless any of those that do not clash with the Lord's Word. 

The Word of God is the confirmation that we are led by the Holy Spirit. It is my prayer that we depend on the Holy Spirit to be our Guide, our Landmark, in all of our travels in life.