My wife, Kelly, and I purchased a Garmin GPS navigation unit in early 2007 as a means to learn our w around our new hometown of Richmond. Kelly was skeptical of the merits of such a product at first. Ask her how she feels now about "Emily" (that's the name of Garmin's British-accented female voice), and she will gush about how essential it has become in finding her way about town. Yes, "Emily" has become a vital part of the Roark family.
Despite her fantastic talents and abilities, Emily is not always right. From time to time, Emily will become confused on a particular route. Other times, she just plain gets lost herself. But those occurrences are few and far between. One such rare occurrence recently popped up at the wrong time for one California man traveling in Upstate New York.
32-year-old Bo Bai, a computer technician from Sunnyvale, California, had rented a vehicle equipped with a GPS navigation system as he made his way around the Bedford Hills area of New York. As Mr. Bai was crossing a set of railroad tracks, the GPS system instructed him to turn right.
Placing his unquestioned trust in the little computer on his dashboard, Bai took a hard right and drove for a short distance on the tracks. The Ford Focus Bai was driving became stuck on the tracks, and his efforts to free the vehicle were unsuccessful. He abandoned the vehicle just minutes before it was slammed by a northbound train. Thankfully, no one was injured, but about 500 passengers were stranded for more than two hours.
Mr. Bai will be held liable for the damage to the train and track, as well as other costs such as loss of revenue. No word on the condition of the GPS unit.
There is a lesson here: We simply must choose our counsel wisely. Beyond that, when we receive counsel, we must take every measure at our disposal to be certain what we have been taught is truth. There seems to be an endless supply of teachers who, either out of malice or ignorance, will lead a soul down the pathway of error.
My friend, take everything you hear and lay it alongside the Scriptures. Any doctrine that implies a false doctrine is itself false.
Remember the words spoken by the prophet, Jeremiah, to the people of God:
Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.' "
Jeremiah 23:16-17, ESV
The Lord has entrusted you with only one soul. To lose that soul by blindly following false teaching would be unmatched tragedy.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Proverbs 14:12, ESV
Had Mr. Bai compared what he could readily see with what he was being told, he would not have made that fateful turn onto the railroad track. Similarly, if more men and women would compare "what is written" with what they have been told, they would not be wasting away in a denominational perversion of Biblical Christianity. The case of Mr. Bai has temporary consequences, but in what may be the case of our friends, family, co-workers, or even ourselves, the consequences will be eternal.
Choose your counsel wisely!
r2
