My wife grew up near the Mississippi River. She never understood why anyone would want to see that big, muddy river that she had always known. She saw nothing special about it. I believe that her father had worked around the river at some point in time. I know that her sister’s husband lost a brother-in-law who was killed in a Mississippi River accident.
On the other hand, I have often looked down toward this mighty river and seen its powerful currents, and I have watched the barges being pushed down river. I have also thought about the fact that each time I see the river, it is not the same water I saw before. It is always flowing and moving and changing. Apparently, many years ago, a major earthquake struck in northwest Tennessee. Reports say that the river flowed backwards for several days, the result of which is Reelfoot Lake. The course of the river changes from time to time. It is a mighty flowing river.
Almost 40 years ago I stepped behind a pulpit in Belleville, IL and presented everything I knew about “The Church in Prophecy.” It took me fifteen minutes. I was 12. I had lived in Texas, Alabama, Germany and Illinois in my first twelve years. In the first nine years of school I attended 13 different schools, including two years in Japan. Life was full of changes. The river kept on flowing.
The mighty Mississippi rolls its way on down until it empties yesterday’s waters into the Gulf of Mexico. Those waters will never return exactly as they were.
What makes life interesting is that the moment in which we find ourselves will never come again, just like stepping into a river. It is the same river, but it is not the same water. We age, we fall in love and, if blessed, we give our love to one person through the years. We have children and watch them grow until, Lord willing, we have grandchildren, too. Life in every stage is different. Like with a river, sometimes the waters of life are calm and serene. Sometimes they are turbulent and rolling, seemingly out of control. We must learn to enjoy each stage that life brings our way and each new moment. We must endure the bad times, realizing that they, too, will roll on by. We should experience each moment, for it will never return.
Paul had learned this. He had learned to be content, in whatever state he was (Philippians 4:11-12). He could face death with a certainty (2 Timothy 4:6-8), through all the uncertainty and change that was brought to his life. He could write confidently, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). He had been through many things (2 Corinthians 11), and the current of life had blown him in many directions. Yet, he learned to make the most of whatever came his way.
When time for us has ended and our life has followed its course, it will empty itself into eternity, like the mighty Mississippi empties its waters into the Gulf of Mexico. Let us make the most of the flowing river of life, above all preparing to leave it behind to become partakers of eternity with the saved of all the ages in the very presence of God. Till then, the river will flow on.
