The Compass of the Caribbean

Believe it or not I took my family to see The Pirates of the Caribbean; Dead Man’s Chest. (This was before Levi was born.) There was a compass that I wish everyone could have. It would point to the greatest desire of the holder’s heart. Capt. Jack Sparrow (the hero of sorts) somehow became the possessor of this amazing compass. Whenever he looked at it though, it spun around this way and then that way, never pointing in a clear direction. It was assumed by the damsel of this story that Capt. Jack sparrow, didn’t really know what he wanted. My son Elliot made an interesting observation that was not mentioned in the film. “I think the compass kept spinning around because Capt. Jack Sparrow was so greedy that we wanted everything this world could offer. It wasn’t until his ship was sinking that he realized that his ship was his greatest desire.”

In Matthew 16:26; Jesus was speaking and said, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

This brings to mind the exchange between the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Jesus, remember? Then a so called expert of the law asked Jesus a question.

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40

Capt. Jack sparrow had his desires pointing in many directions. What about you? If you had “the compass of the Caribbean” what direction would the arrow point? Would you get distracted by the things of this world like Capt. Jack Sparrow? Or would you have clear direction? Do you love the Lord your God?