As much as I hated to do it, this past Monday I had to officially say “good-bye” to summer as my kids started back into school. I love summer. I love the long sunny days. I love being outside. I love a schedule where the kids don’t have to be in bed at a certain time because it is school night. I especially love summer vacations. This year my family had the privilege of spending a week down in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We stayed in a cabin in the mountains and thoroughly enjoyed God’s creation, as well as the serenity of being in the mountains.
While on our vacation, Carol and I decided to take the kids tubing down a “lazy river”. For $9 a person, you could ride down the river all day long, as many times as you wanted. What a deal!! After getting our tubes, and life jackets for the kids, we piled into a
van and were driven several miles up the road where we were to put in to the river. After getting used to the cold water, we all got onto our tubes and headed down the river for a nice relaxing ride. Unfortunately, it was anything but relaxing. Within seconds my wife and two girls were rushed by the current toward a fallen tree, where they were overturned and tangled. Once free, it wasn’t too long until we hit another section with a strong current that slammed us into rocks, once again overturning my kids from the tubes, leaving them with cuts and bruises up and down their legs. This went on for much of the remainder of our “lazy river” ride, and needless to say, none of my kids wanted to go back and do it again.
Looking back on that excursion, I see a direct correlation with our spiritual lives. This world that we live in has a distinct current. And sadly, many Christians are riding the current unaware and unprepared for the rough waters, rapids, and dangers; or else they stopped caring and battling the current in order to avoid the dangers. As a result, the current of this world’s philosophy and thinking takes them and entangles them in trees of materialism or addictions. Others, the current leads them to become bruised and injured by convincing them that certain sins are permissible and won’t affect them in any way. The reality is that if we are alive, then we are in the current of this world. Therefore, we need to be aware of it and we need to battle against it in order to keep ourselves free from becoming entangled and injured. Satan may want us to believe that this life is just a “lazy river” ride, but it’s false advertisement and the results can be harmful. Just ask my kids.