Floating Down the River of Life … with No Paddles!
Do you remember Mark Twain’s story of Huckleberry Finn? In the book, Tom Sawyer’s friend, Huck Finn, sets out with his friend, Jim, on a raft down the Mississippi River.
Now to me as a boy who loved outdoor adventure, that was exciting stuff! Riding down a huge river on a raft. Fishing off the side. Observing the other travelers on the water. Experiencing all kinds of adventures along the way with nothing to worry about but the moment. That would be fine living!
Well, to create a metaphor from Twain’s story, every one of us happens to be floating on a raft in the middle of a huge river. In fact, everyone who lives in the world is rafting down that same waterway. The river’s name is the “River of Life.”
And not a single one of us has oars!
But everyone does have a helmsman; that is, someone who is steering their raft. There are only two options for helmsmen; either a person’s personal raft is being directed by Jesus … or by Satan.
Sadly, the majority of rafts on the river are under Satan’s guidance. Satan is steering, and his goal is to maintain control of all of those rafts until river’s end. He skillfully maneuvers those skiffs into currents on the River of Life that benefit his cause and better enable him to continue to control the inhabitant of that raft.
What are those nasty currents?
The first is the current of disregard. Rafts on this current carry their riders down the river in a state of inadvertent, and sometimes deliberate, oblivion of God’s Word and therefore of God himself. Where there is disregard for God’s Word and God, there the evil helmsman’s control is easily maintained.
Another nasty side-stream Helmsman Satan delights to drift on is the current of disobedience. This is an attractive one for floaters because every human-being has a sinful nature, and so is naturally inclined to disobey God’s laws. And the more Satan can keep peoples’ rafts on the current of disobedience, the longer he can keep distance between them and God, the simpler it is to keep them distracted by the allure of sin, and the easier it is to bring about complete despair of God’s love and forgiveness.
Yet another preferred current by the devil is the current of difficulties. This current flows naturally from the current of disobedience because whenever someone is floating outside of the streams God suggests for people’s own good, then difficulties are sure to follow. But difficulties don’t only arise from disobedience; they are part and parcel of life in a sinful and broken world.
Regardless of how it got there, when someone’s raft is flowing down the River of Life in the current of difficulties, Satan can better create spiritual complications. He can cause distraction from the things of God as people become absorbed in solving their problems. He can foster discouragement, sometimes even to the point of despair. He can ramp up stress, which then leads to even more difficulties.
Then there’s the worst current of all, the current of death. It’s the current on the River of Life that Satan loves the best. For many on this river, the current of death is a horrifying thing. They view death as the end of life. And the end of pleasure, possessions, prestige, and all that they know. Consequently, death is something to live in terror of, to avoid at all costs, and to refuse to face. Yet they all know deep down that death is inevitable. Helmsman Satan can bring about a whole lot of issues while scooting down the current of death.
Of course, all of these unpleasant currents are intertwined to a great degree. Which suits Satan well.
Truth be told, every single raft is under the devil’s control at one time. Ours was too! But then somewhere along the way God intervened. The Gospel of our Savior drifted across the waters, wafted into our ears or eyes, and seeped into our hearts. The Holy Spirit lit the light of faith within us. At that instant, Satan was thrown over-board and a new helmsman named Jesus took over our raft.
Jesus steers us onto different currents; currents named faith, awe and honor, obedience, opportunities, blessings and life.
Yes, we still find ourselves in bad currents sometimes. Unfortunately, our sinful natures still ride along on our rafts. We won’t be rid of our inborn sin until we arrive in heaven. Consequently, we still reach over the side of our rafts and doggy-paddle ourselves into currents where Jesus doesn’t want us to go sometimes – dangerous and destructive currents such as disobedience. Jesus doesn’t steer us there; we pull ourselves there.
But then the Gospel rings out again over the waters, and Jesus, our helmsman, reminds of his love and his death. He reminds us of the forgiveness he secured for us. And when we remember all that Jesus endured for us and accomplished for us, he steers us once again onto a more pleasant slipstream. Our faith is revived and our eagerness to obey him is renewed.
Of course, the current of difficulties is unavoidable as we float down the River of Life. We encounter sandbars, fallen trees, and dangerous rapids in the river. Our rafts get rocked by hardships and assaulted by waves. As we see the obstacles around our little raft on the River of Life, we are constantly tempted to despair of our safety.
But here’s the key! When we find our raft on the rapids, heading toward rocks in the River of Life, we must not focus on the rapids and the rocks! Rather, we turn our eyes to our helmsman, to the one who is steering your raft. We lift our eyes to Jesus; we look to our Heavenly Helmsman.
Helmsman Jesus has a perfect record. His rafts have never been swamped. His boats on the River of Life have never been capsized. He always leads his people through the rapids to the still and quiet waters. Our rafts are in good hands
Yes, the currents of the River of Life will eventually carry us to physical death. But because of Jesus, the River of Life which is carrying our bodies day-by-day closer to death is also carrying our souls day-by-day closer to eternal life in heaven.
Wow! Now that’s something to celebrate!
Sadly, unbelievers live terrified of death because Satan is their helmsman. But our helmsman is Jesus, so we recognize that physical death is just the beginning of eternal life. We recognize that death is not the ultimate defeat, but the ultimate victory. Because when we die, we die with Jesus as our helmsman, and he will lead us Home.
Which reminds me of another metaphor, a biblical one. The picture is different, but the message is the same.
“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23).
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