Finding Truth North

How can you follow the right directions if you don’t know which way is north?

In Episode 2 of Week 3 of The Journey, Pastor Evan Ryder continues exploring Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:17–24. Once the lost son comes to his senses, he must take a difficult but necessary step: he must admit that he is lost.

The son believed that leaving his father would bring freedom, satisfaction, and independence. Instead, his journey led him into hunger, isolation, and bondage. Returning home required more than regretting the consequences of his choices. He had to stop defending his brokenness, acknowledge that he had been traveling in the wrong direction, and turn toward his father.

This is the heart of repentance.

Repentance is more than feeling guilty or sorry. It is a change of direction made possible by God’s grace. Saving grace helps us tell the truth about where sin has taken us, points us toward Jesus, and establishes true north in our lives.

Using the image of a compass, this Christian devotional explores why even a detailed map cannot help us if we are facing the wrong direction. In the same way, the teachings of Jesus may seem confusing—or even foolish—until God’s grace reorients our hearts.

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18, the message of the cross may appear foolish to those who are being destroyed, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. The way of Jesus often challenges the direction of the world. Jesus teaches us to surrender, serve, forgive, love our enemies, and trust God rather than making our own satisfaction the highest goal of life.

When saving grace establishes true north, the map begins to make sense.

In this episode:

• Why admitting we are lost is necessary
• How sin distorts our sense of direction
• The biblical meaning of repentance
• Why repentance is a response to God’s grace
• How the cross reorients our understanding of life
• Why the way of Jesus can appear foolish
• How saving grace points us back toward God

Today’s Travel Log question:

Where in your life have you become lost and found yourself in need of the compass of God’s saving grace to point you back toward God?

Is there an attitude, relationship, habit, or choice you have been defending even though it is pulling you away from God? God does not reveal our disorientation to shame or condemn us. His grace shows us where we are so He can lead us home.

Rediscovering Faith is a Christian podcast hosted by Pastor Evan Ryder that helps listeners grow closer to Jesus through biblical teaching, personal reflection, practical discipleship, and prayer. This season, The Journey, explores the journey of God’s grace—including prevenient grace, saving grace, and sanctifying grace—and what it means to follow Jesus one step at a time.

Scripture: Luke 15:17–24; 1 Corinthians 1:18
Series: The Journey
Week 3: Saving Grace
Episode 2: “Finding True North”