15-5

Big River

I've only been white water rafting a couple of times. We went on the Ocoee River in Tennessee, and it was really fun. Sure we got tossed around a little bit, but nothing too major. In this chapter, Louie is talking about rafting down the Zambezei River in Africa (which flows out of Victoria Falls). Now that is a big time trip. It is a river filled with class IV and V rapids that kill hippos and some "that could drag a bus under." He says that they made it half way through when they decided to take a break and celebrate their survival on the shore, when their guide told them that they could continue if they wanted, but it was going to get even more dangerous the farther they went. The group decided unanimously to call it a day and just say that the river had won. Currents are dangerous, and if we aren't careful they can sweep us away.

Even more dangerous than a rushing river current is the current that still flows out of Eden. It's called pride, it was the downfall of Adam and Eve, and it is still our downfall today. It all started so well for Adam. Here he was, in a perfect world (literally) that was just days old walking and talking with the Great I AM! Then, as if it couldn't get any better, God made Eve! Soon they realized that the story wasn't about them, I mean they didn't even come on stage until day 6, and all creation was praising I AM, and not them. The problem occurred when they decided that supporting roles weren't enough for them. They wanted to be as big as God. They wanted to be I AMS instead of i am nots.

"When someone named i am not decides to live as though his or her name is really I AM, one consequence always follows: death."

The danger to trying to make ourselves out to be bigger than we are is this: "...we might succeed-at least in earthly terms-in making a name for ourselves. We night draw a crowd, grab some fame, amass some riches, hear the roar of applause. We might succeed at building a tower to the sky with our name emblazoned on it. All that hard work, only to have the River Pride deposit us on a sandbar called "The End." And in that moment, when the tiny story of us comes to a close, all the glory we could garner for ourselves will fade to nothing." But Jesus "gave Himself for us so that we could die to self-fame, self-glory, self-effort, self-centeredness, and the self-stories that are quickly coming to an end."

You see we don't need the spotlight, because we already know the star! "Not only do we know I AM, but I AM lives in us. He displays His power in us and glorifies His name through us. And in so doing we stake our claim in immortality, sowing our lives for His renown, investing in the applause of heaven that never, ever ends."

There will still be times when we are swept away in the current of pride. But we can rest easy in the fact that I AM is there to save us from the death we deserve. "The truth is we can be free of sin's power when we die to pride and self, and live instead in the powerful current of Christ's life in us-that eternal kind of life flowing in the veins of all who put their trust in Him."

Enjoy the Journey