Caution! Hazardous Conditions Ahead!

I just wanted to kayak through the spider lilies. A section of the Catawba River about half an hour from me has the largest concentration of Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies in the world during May and June every year. I’ve paddled this section several times before, and the water level is usually quite low, causing kayakers to scrape bottom over many rocks.

Since we’ve had a lot of rain and storms lately, I figured that would just add enough water to the river to make it easier to paddle.

As we pulled into the parking lot and unloaded our kayaks, I noticed a Today’s River Condition sign positioned prominently next to the put-in spot. It was red. As in High Hazard. Just like a red stoplight means to stop at an intersection, this sign was designed to point out the hazardous conditions of the river. You know, just in case the extremely high level of roaring, muddy water wasn’t enough of a deterrent.

We had taken off work for the afternoon, and it was the only sunny day that week. I’m an experienced kayaker, and I was sure that I could navigate the danger and that seeing the spider lilies would be worth ignoring the sign.

That warning sign functions much like our driving laws—stop on red, be cautious on yellow, and proceed on green. Warning signs and other laws are designed to define danger and show us the difference between right and wrong. This is the apostle Paul’s main point in Romans 7:7–25. As verse 7 says, “If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.”

If I had taken time to read the small print on the River Conditions sign, I would have known what water levels were considered safe and why that day was unsafe. When we learn how to drive, one of the first things we need to do is learn what various warning signs mean, including the colors on a stoplight. When we become believers, we have to learn about God’s rules.

Thank goodness we no longer have to follow all of the Old Testament ritualistic laws. That’s the point Paul makes in the first part of Romans 7. But he wants us to know that the law is still useful. It shows us what sin is and reminds us that we are still sinful creatures, unable to redeem ourselves.

As Tim Keller suggests in his commentary on this chapter, the law shows us our perverse desire to do the opposite of whatever we’re told to do. This is easy to see in children when we tell them not to touch a hot stove, and they burn their fingers, or we tell them not to take their sister’s toy, yet they grab it anyway and cause many tears. As adults, we’re not much better. We think speed limit signs are just suggestions. We think no one will know if we’re just a little jealous of our friends’ successes. We think talking to that person of the opposite gender at work is just being friendly. But what we’re really doing is running through a yellow light. Paul uses the issue of covetousness to point out that just a little sin opens the door for all kinds of bigger sins.

Back to my kayaking story. Did I pay attention to the red warning signs about the river conditions? No, I did not. My pride in my ability and disobedience to the signs led to a near disaster.

The water was rougher than it looked. Almost right away, I realized that I should have paid attention to that bright red hazard sign. As I careened through the whitewater rapids, I hit a hidden boulder, my kayak flipped over, and I went all the way under. It was very swift there, and I barely held onto the kayak. I got dragged quite a ways because a kayak full of water is very heavy!! I finally got stopped at a larger rock outcropping and was able to empty out the water. My friend had caught up to me by then and helped. I’m so glad I always wear my life preserver. It earned its keep! But I lost my favorite bracelet, my favorite water bottle, and a cooling cloth. I also sustained some major bumps and bruises.

But sometimes the consequences of our sins are more severe than that. Our covetousness leads to greed and dissatisfaction. Our innocent greetings turn into something more. Our harsh words destroy a close friendship.

And here’s the thing. Those spider lilies I wanted to see? There were very few blooming, and the few that were out were mostly underwater. So not worth it! The reward we think we’re going to get for sliding down the slippery slope of sin is not even worth it.

As Paul reminds us, a little sin leads to a lot of sin. “But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness” (v. 8). Once the police officer turns on his lights, it’s too late to slow down. Once you put your kayak into the rushing water, there’s no going back.

Because flipping my kayak and getting dragged over rocks halfway down the river wasn’t enough adventure, I totally missed the takeout spot, and we floated way past it. Because it’s heavily wooded along there, we decided to paddle back up the river—against the current—what was I thinking? The closer we got to the shoals, the stronger the current became, and I literally paddled in place for close to an hour. I finally made it to the shore (not at the official takeout spot) and managed to get my kayak tied off to a tree. The path didn’t go quite that far, so I bushwhacked my way back uphill and over to the takeout spot and got way too up close and personal with a snake! My friend retrieved my kayak while I hiked back several miles on the muddy path to get my car.

By putting my kayak into the water, I revealed my inner mindset. I wanted to make my own rules. My heart attitude was prideful and rebellious. And, as evidenced by my story, we can see the conflict between our love for God and his word and our selfish desire to sin. If even the apostle Paul struggled with the desire to sin, we should not expect to be free from that struggle!

The good news is that God’s grace is more powerful than a rushing river and bigger than our sinful desires. Only when we see how sinful we are—how quickly we are dashed against the rocks in the whitewater—can we grasp how truly glorious God’s grace is. We can’t, but he can.

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (v. 25).

But you can bet that I won’t be ignoring river hazard warnings again!