I once went white water rafting on the New River Gorge river in
West Virginia at the height of the season. Rapids were category
4 with a couple of 5’s (6 is considered unpassable) and while overall
it was exciting and even dangerous, one memory in
particular stands out.
As our guide was training and prepping us before starting down river,
he said there definitely would be times when it would be so rough that it
was not uncommon for a crew member to be ejected out of the raft.
Sure enough this happened two or three times, and team members instinctively
snatched their fellow sojourner, saving them in the nick of time.
But it was his last comment that was particularly sobering.
“When in the torrent of vicious water with steep drops and
sharp rocks, injury is certain and death a possibility,
so if you fall out of the raft, and we cannot retrieve you,
YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.”
God likewise is warning us that if we get tossed into the tumultuous,
unrestrained deep river of sin that the result will be that
“…such things are worthy of death.” (verse 32)
As today’s three verses caution us, God will not be there to
save you and 'YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.'
Friend, never put your life in a place where you move yourself
so far away from God that even He gives up on you. It’s
not because He wants to, but because “(you) have
pleasure in doing (these things).” (verse 32)
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