Canoeing with friends is a relational sport. You drift along, enjoying the scenery and conversing at length with no pressure to beat the traffic or make your next meeting.  

We spent two summer vacations canoeing the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park. There were entire days of gazing up at the soaring orange canyon walls, swimming alongside the canoes, discovering ancient caves drawings, cliff jumping into the water, and endlessly coaxing the young men back from the threatened edges of those scenic, thousand-foot high cliff ledges. 

There were close calls, nervous parents, and even a nasty spider bite, but the most serious moment of the trip by far was knowing when and where to get off the river. There is a point at which the Colorado rounds a bend and heads downhill with emphasis. That’s the moment when a canoe is no longer useful.

Every life features a pivotal moment when we realize it’s time to get ready for what’s next. The biblical writer, Paul, says it best. “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” That’s because there’s an end to every story, and being prepared makes all the difference, in this life and the next. And we get to make the decision.