When Columbus sailed from Europe across the Atlantic Ocean, he traveled in a direction no one had ever attempted before. He was seeking an all-water route to India, or “The Indies” as it was known then. After approximately two months at sea, he landed on an island that is probably San Salvador in today’s Bahamas. He thought it was part of south-east Asia and that he could eventually find his way to fabled Asian kings, securing fabulous wealth for his backers in Spain. On subsequent voyages, he failed to find kings or riches and had little to show for his efforts. Other explorers soon made the same trip and declared the new land as an unexpected continent, not India. But for the rest of his life, Columbus stubbornly insisted he had found the eastern side of the Indies.

I wonder how many people head off in life expecting to find happiness by attaining great wealth, living in big homes and marrying people they expect to be perfect – as if that is the very point of their existence? All too often they find the pursuit of wealth to be full of worry and strain, a big home can often be cold and empty, and the person they married is not perfect at all. Have they put too much weight on others to make them happy, or physical things to fill the void? They have sailed the wrong direction and, Like Columbus, ended up with disappointment.

Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-20. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.” The apostle Paul told Christians that “our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil.3:20).

Know where you’re going in life and make sure the direction you take is aiming for heaven. You will not be disappointed or found to be chasing fables. Where is your compass taking you?

– Tim Johnson