Weekly Words

Run like a River

Rivers are interesting bodies of waters. They, unlike puddles, ponds, and lakes, are bodies of water that have a course, direction, and destination. And, unlike puddles, ponds, and lakes they serve as models for our lives and our living. What divides and distinguishes rivers from these other bodies of water are the existence and structure of their banks. Without banks, rivers no longer have the means to channel their energy and direct their flow.

Though dreams, goals, and aspirations are so critical in motivating and inspiring our movement and energy, we still need banks to guide and channel that energy in the right direction. Our banks are the guidelines, standards, and boundaries that we set in our lives that keep us moving and keep our lives focused. Banks are not rigid rules and regulations that are stagnant and stultified, rather they widen and narrow according to the terrain. At the same time, they never widen so much that the river looses course and they never become so narrow that they strain the life out of the body of water. Banks are really the guiding principles and values that keep us on course.

Sadly, if we were to take honest inventory on the current state of our lives some of us would admit that we are more like puddles and ponds than rivers. We are a body of water that exists, has life, and may even provide beautiful scenery, however we are not moving any place and we are not going anywhere. Sometimes this is the case, not because we don’t have dreams to motivate us, goals to stimulate us, or ambitions to inspire us, instead we don’t have non-negotiable principles that guide us. This is why so many of us are in harmful and hurtful relationships, unhappy and unhealthy careers, and even unfair and unjust socio-political environments. Personally and publically, individually and communally, we need to establish “banks” in our lives that we can live with and more importantly that we can not live without. The direction and momentum that is needed for our lives is established by the banks that we set in our lives.

Humbly in Christ’s Love,
Pastor B.A. Jackson