For centuries, sailors discovered something unsettling about their compasses—north was not always north.
If you have ever hiked in the woods or sailed far from shore, you already know that a compass points toward magnetic north, not geographic or “true” north. The difference is called magnetic declination, and it changes depending on where you are and even changes over time. A navigator who fails to make the necessary correction can faithfully follow his compass and still slowly drift off course until he is completely lost.
The problem became so important for shipping in the 17th century that in 1698, English astronomer Edmond Halley was given command of a ship and sent across the Atlantic to study these magnetic variations. His observations eventually helped produce a chart sailors could use to correct their compass readings and navigate toward the oceans.
There is a profound spiritual lesson in that.
We can be moving confidently in the direction our culture tells us is north—and still be headed in the wrong direction.
Our culture has its own magnetic pull. It points us toward accumulation, protection, market-like returns, risk aversion, and financial independence. None of these things are necessarily wrong. But none of them are true north.
A compass does not tell us how far we have traveled, how much we have accumulated, or how successful the journey has been.
And technically, it does not even point toward true north.
It points toward magnetic north.
A skilled navigator understands the difference. He knows that the compass must be corrected for magnetic declination if he wants to stay oriented toward true north.
Perhaps our lives require the same correction.
The world exerts a powerful magnetic pull toward following the crowd, keeping up with the Joneses, believing that he who dies with the most toys or biggest house or nicest car wins. Without realizing it, we can spend years faithfully following conventional financial planning—while gradually drifting away from what matters eternally.
The world has a magnetic north.
Eternity is true north.
Paul gives us our “true north” in 2 Corinthians 4:18: “What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
That changes how a real steward sees everything. My wife and I recently came up with a motto for our lives: “Oikonomos—stewards of what is not our own.”
Our wealth. Our discretionary income. Our businesses. Our house. Our influence. Our opportunities. Everything in our lives.
All have been entrusted to us for a time. All are temporary. But how we steward them can have eternal significance.
And perhaps, like those early navigators, we need to regularly check our declination. The magnetic pull of the world is powerful and subtle. Without realizing it, our definition of success can drift from God's definition of faithfulness to a worldly definition of success.
The question is not simply, Am I making progress?
The more important question is, Am I pointed in the right direction?
The danger isn't that we have no compass. The danger is confidently following a compass that is pointing us slightly away from true north.
May the compass remind us to continually reorient our lives and our resources toward eternity.
So ask yourself:
“Lord, how would You have me steward what is temporary for what is eternal?”
Eternity is true north.
