Today, I came across this video by Professor Aaron from Duke University. As soon as I saw the title, I knew it was going to be a good one. It has also triggered a Déjà vu for me. Let me explain.

When I was in Grade 9, still living in Colonial Hong Kong, I joined the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Program, and one of the required accomplishments was Adventure Journey. What’s involved is planning and executing an adventure in nature. We needed to buy a professional trail map. We would be told where to begin, where to stay, and where to end up. What we need to do is to figure everything out in between.

We will be graded on the reasonableness of the route we plan, the number of breaks we will take and where, and during the hike, the supervising instructor will randomly ask us to pinpoint where we are on the map using a compass, pencil, a ruler, and triangulation points based on our interpretation of the topographical map.

In today’s world, those are “easy” tasks. You just pull out your phone, and voila! Here is the problem: the Level 1 trip is a single overnight stay. Level 2 trip is two overnight stays. I don’t know of any phone out there that can last that long while using GPS all day. There is no power outlet, and you have enough stuff to carry; adding power banks just adds weight.

For another example: people close to me know how much I HATE Samsung smartphones. Here is the BIGGEST reason why. During the early years after my wife and I got married, we would go on road trips. This one time, not long after we set off, the phone overheated and went “kapoof”! I just remember there were a few critical, complicated turns ahead to get out of town. We had no choice but to waste precious time waiting for the phone to revive, since I didn’t remember the exact sequences (they were written down on a note… in the note app on the phone).

The last example: on another road trip, we entered our destination into the in-car GPS and let it guide us. We were going to a hotel we have stayed at before, it’s across the road from an Outlets Mall we’ve been to before, but first time getting there in the first car we have with a built-in GPS. I drove the second-to-last leg and let my wife drive the last one. The GPS is set, and only an hour is left. What could go wrong? So I took a nap. I woke up just as we were exiting the highway, and it was already dark. I saw the very bright Outlets Map to our left and what I believe is our hotel.

I was still a little drowsy, so my reaction time was slow. The GPS told us to… turn right. I thought to myself, “wait, right!? Didn’t I see the destination on the LEFT!? I mentioned that to my wife, but the GPS said the destination was still another 15 minutes away. It took driving in absolute darkness for another five minutes before I could convince her to turn around.

It turned out, we entered what we thought was the town where the outlet was, the street address and assumed we were heading to the right place. That town was 15 minutes EAST of the Outlets Mall. Both townships have the same street information at the same location. The GPS was “accurately” taking us where we “said” we wanted to go, but it is actually NOT where we wanted to go.

Knowing how to do it “the good old way” can be the key to survival.

The same goes for our faith.

If we count on our weekly sermon (or even listen to recordings of other pastors throughout the week) as the only source for how to have a relationship with God, we are essentially navigating our spiritual journey with a GPS. We are counting on the program and the phone running properly (or correctly). We know where we begin, where we are going, when to turn, but we are not necessarily sure if the path we are on is the one that is the best, the most efficient, or even if it is going to be the least costly to us.

There is no shortcut to this journey we are on.

We need to have a clear idea of where we begin and recognize how far off we are from where we should be: with God. We need to get our hands on a Bible (it doesn’t matter which version or versions, we get our hands on) and read it to ensure we are getting the correct raw data. Once we begin this journey, we must constantly check our progress to make sure we don’t miss any signs or markers, lest we unknowingly or knowingly deviate from the path.

It’s okay to read the Bible according to whatever devotional plan we subscribe to. But you don’t know what you are missing unless you systematically read through the Bible at least once. I’m currently following the Bible Recap plan. Okay, as someone holding an M.Div degree, I HAVE read and studied the Bible, BUT we didn’t get to go into many cross-book in-depth studies.

It’s not that I never tried doing it before, but when it hit Numbers, it was game over. My ADD just went crazy and can’t get through it one day…then the next…then the next, and I just can’t catch up and gave up.

This time TBR just gives a little bit more directions and pointers to make even the most boring part (like Numbers) interesting and relevant. Well, the fact that the Bible was read to me REALLY helped. You know, just like how people even in New Testament time get to learn God’s Word.

So far, by simply sequentially and chronologically read the Bible in big chunks, I discovered more ways how the Word of God has so many interrelated factors that can enrich our understanding of God that exposed the shortcomings we haven’t noticed we have in our quest to be more like God.

You want help figuring out the map? Give TBR a try.

Godspeed to all of us on this journey.