The River of Life

This past week I went white-water rafting.
I found the movements of the water to be very fascinating and spent a good part of the time on the river watching the different currents.
It was very interesting to see how the water moved in many different directions, the main current always moving downstream, but often there were other currents that reversed direction and fought against the movement of the river.

Often we would come upon a place in the river where the water was still and mirror –like. I’ve always loved watching ripples and I found it amusing to use my paddle to create ripples on the water’s smooth surface.
But the quiet times would only last so long and soon a raging rapid would be in front of us and the fun time of making ripples would be gone and I’d have to use my paddle to actually paddle!

As my raft went along the river and I watched the waters move around us it struck me that life often resembles the currents of the river.
As we travel down the river of life there are many currents. The main current pulls us safely through life. But there are many other currents that pull at us, drawing us away from the main current and pushing us around in different directions. Without a Guide in your raft it’s easy to be caught in a contradictory current and pulled away from the path of the river, which almost always leads to danger. Without a Guide it’s easy to be pulled towards rocks and other hazards of the river.

I noticed that the contradictory movements of the river are like sin in our lives. It’s a battle where we’re caught between the pull of sin and the pull of righteousness. God wants to lead us in righteousness - safely down the river, but sin wants to pull us into destruction. Often in life we are torn between these two pulls, because sin is pleasurable, if only for a season, it still is very attractive and desirable for that reason.

You generally can’t see the hazards of the river before you reach them. Often the waters look smooth and safe and it’s not until the danger is upon you that you can clearly see it, and by then, it’s too late. You’re sucked it and you’re struggling to break free. It's the same with sin.

But if you have a Guide in your boat, who knows the river and is aware of the dangers before they arrive, He can lead you away from them and keep you in the safe current.

But here in lies another problem, while I was rafting I sat in the front/left seat. This seat is important, because all the other people in the raft take their cues from this person. Everyone in the raft is supposed to watch and copy this person’s strokes so that everyone stays together and that the raft will travel strong and smoothly. If this person isn’t paying attention it could throw the whole raft off.
The problem comes in because this person is in the front and the Guide, who is yelling directions, is in the back.

Now, while the raft is in smooth water it often simply floats. It’s quiet and it’s easy to hear the Guide from the front of the boat.
It’s also easy to stop paying attention and just let your mind drift, like when I use my paddle to make ripples, stirring up the water just for the sake of having fun, until suddenly you’re caught unaware and unprepared and the raft is heading towards a rapids. Unexpectedly, the quietness is replaced with the roaring sounds of water splashing and smashing against itself and the raft and you can't hear the Guide.
You’re surrounded by movement and noise. You have no idea what to do. You can’t hear the Guide shouting directions from the back of the raft, there are too many distractions and without proper directions from the Guide you could easily lead the entire raft into destruction.

The currents and waves are pulling at you and now, it’s not good enough to simply listen, now, you have to listen intently and actively in order to hear.
You have to push past all the distractions and seek out the voice coming from the back. You have to be still and listen. And then, when that voice is finally heard you have to follow. You have to make your hands take the paddle and do exactly what the guide says, even if it seems crazy.

Now, that right there seems like life to me.
When times are good, we become comfortable, distracted and sometimes even bored enough to stir up trouble and we stop listening to our Guide - God, but then suddenly, seemingly out-of-the-blue, life gets complicated. It gets noisy and hard and confusing. We don’t know what to do. We can’t hear, because the sin that we’ve been disregarding is now bombarding us, it’s blocking out God’s voice. In these moments we can’t hear God, because we are too caught up listening to the sin that is pulling us away from God. In these moments, often the only way to hear God is by doing what it says in Psalms 37 “Be still and know that I am God”.
When sin is overwhelming us and about to overcome us, we must stop listening to the waves of sin and distractions, be still and listen ONLY for God’s voice.

Just like the raft guide knows the next turn of the river before we get there and how to maneuver it, God knows the next turn of your life before you get there and He knows how to get you through it.
So, when we’re traveling through life, the hard times and the easy times:
We must always listen intently for God’s voice, because you can only hear it in Stillness,
And you must pick up your paddle and obey His directions and let Him guide you through the right current.

Two Verses, Two Men, One Choice

Pilate was not happy. He had been awakened from his sleep. He had heard about this Jesus fellow, and had known that the Jewish leaders didn’t like him, but he didn’t think he was a bad man. He hadn’t been doing anything wrong. The Jews were upset, but then, they seemed to get upset pretty easily. Why did they have to get him involved in their little problems? Why did they have to bring Jesus to him? Oh yes, because he was the only one with the power to put men to death. That’s what they wanted. He knew that. Power was an interesting thing. He loved it and hated it at the same time. He knew he didn’t want to give it up. He enjoyed his power. It made him feel strong. On the downside though, he was constantly under pressure from Caesar to keep the peace over here in the land of the Jews. Yeah, ‘cause that’s an easy job. The Jews put pressure on him too, always wanting something. He needed to keep everyone happy, but all they do is complain. Why didn’t people realize how hard his job is?
And now, he had a bunch of angry people standing in his courtyard that wanted him to put an innocent man to death.
It was crazy. The man had done nothing wrong. The Jewish leaders we’re just jealous of the influence Jesus had. He was smarter than they were and they knew it. He had more power then they did and they knew it. And they wanted him to fix their problem.
Psch. He had a decision to make. And it wasn’t gonna be easy.

Many people do not view Pontius Pilate in a very kind light.
He’s viewed as a man without a backbone. A wimp. Someone who gave into peer-pressure. Some say he wasn’t worthy of the position he held. Some may pity him for the guilt he had to carry around. He tried to shirk responsibility.
I was reading in Luke 23 the other day, where Jesus is brought before Pilate. I was trying to understand what was going through Pilate’s head. I was doing a pretty bad job until I reached verse 25.

“So Pilate decided to grant their demand…and surrendered Jesus to their will”

Suddenly it all fell into place, as a sobering reality came upon me.

I could relate to this man. In this man, a man who has been looked down upon for years, I saw myself.

How many times just in the last few days had I surrendered Jesus?
How many times had I given into sinful desires?
How many times had I pushed Jesus to the side, and ignored doing what was right to please others?
How many times had I been selfish enough to SURRENDER Jesus?

Every time I’m selfish, every time I put what I want before God, every time I do something to please others and not God I am surrendering Jesus. I am giving Him up for something that I view as better. You’d never hear me say that a friend’s approval is better than God’s, but actions speak louder than words, do they not?
That’s pretty chilling.
I continued to read and was once again, caught by surprise, just one verse down, in verse 26,

“As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from
the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus”

Here, in complete contrast to Pilate, is a man who sacrificed himself.
Who gave up selfish desires to carry the cross of Jesus: A man who was sentenced to death. I'll bet that did not do much good for his image. We know that people jeered and spit at Christ while he walked. I’ll bet that many did the same to Simon.
This man sacrificed himself, his image, his comfort, to follow Jesus and carry His cross.

I was struck by the immensity of these two verses.

In two small verses Luke had outlined who I am and who I want to be.
A selfish leader who put his own insecurities and desires before doing what was right and a humble countryman who stopped what he was doing, and put following Christ before himself, sacrificing his image, his health, and his time, everything for Jesus.

Pilate had a dish of water bought to him and tried to wash his hands of the deed he’d done, but just as water from the well could not stop the thirst of the Women at the Well (John 4), water could not wash the guilt from Pilate’s hands.

Every time I surrender Jesus, I am just as guilty as Pilate. Every time I put myself ahead of Christ, I am hammering nails through my Savior’s hands and the only thing that can cleanse me and that could cleanse Pilate and the Woman at the Well, is the precious blood of Jesus.

Because of that cleansing blood, because of the forgiveness and grace I have been given by the sacrifice his blood represents, I can now have the freedom to lay down my pride, pick up my cross and follow God. Because of God’s grace and His gift of salvation I am cleansed and able to be molded by God into a better person, a person that never surrenders Christ to the world, but sacrifices themselves to following Christ.

Romans 12:1 “ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer
your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your
spiritual act of worship.”

So, in whom do you recognize yourself?
Do you see yourself as a Pilate? Or a Simon?
Will sacrifice yourself to carry the cross today?