1 Cor 3:8 "The man who plants and the man who waters have
one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own
labor."
Walking through the forest, a seasoned hiker came upon a
broad, slowly moving river. He stopped to gaze over the
waters, appreciating the beauty, when suddenly he heard a
faint cry coming from upstream. Looking in the
direction of the noise, he saw an obviously drowning man
floundering in the river and drifting slowly toward him.
The hiker was stunned momentarily, but he sprang into action
when he saw the man disappear beneath the waters. Throwing
off all of his cumbersome gear, he dove into the river and
swam like a madman toward the spot where the man went under.
Upon reaching the spot he plunged below the surface and
frantically
hauled up the helpless man. He then laboriously towed the
victim to shore.
Heaving the lifeless body up on the riverbank, the hiker
attempted to revive
the man, who eventually spit up water and began to breathe.
Relieved, the hiker paused to catch his breath. But no
sooner had he done so than he heard another voice out on the
water. Another drowning person!
Once again he swam out and pulled the person to shore, a
little more slowly this time. As the hiker-turned lifeguard
revived the second victim, he heard yet another cry for
help.
All day long the hiker worked, rescuing one person after
another as they came drifting down the river. There seemed
to be no end of drowning victims, and the hiker didn't think
he could keep it up.
Just when he was about to collapse from exhaustion, he
spotted another man walking rapidly beside the river, headed
upstream. "Hey mister!" he cried out. "Please help me! These
poor people are drowning!" Amazingly, the man kept walking
upstream. The astonished hiker called out again. Without
even acknowledging the cry, the man kept going. Indignant
and angry, the hiker leapt to his feet, ran toward the
seemingly uncompassionate man, stood directly in his path,
and in a loud voice demanded, "Sir! How can you possibly
walk past all these drowning people? Have you no conscience?
Must I force you to help me save these people?"
The stranger stopped, looked at him for the first time and
said with a calm,
focused voice, "Sir, please get out of my way. I am headed
upstream to stop the guy who is pushing all these people
in."
Each of us has a role to play in rescuing those who are
drowning in sin.
Some of us pull people from the water and resuscitate them
with counseling, food and shelter, a rehabilitation program,
a support group, or financial aid. Affirm those doing these
important ministries. Others of us find our place of
ministry upstream, opposing the one pushing people into the
river. We do this by introducing those people to Jesus
Christ. Knowing Christ sets a person free from sin and
releases them from Satan's power over them. By itself,
pulling people from the water isn't enough. We need to help
people deal with the problem of sin at its source.
