“River of Disappointment”

Monday, August 23, 2021

          Sir Alexander Mackenzie is a Canadian hero. There are 11 different places named after Alexander Mackenzie in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories in Canada, including the Mackenzie Delta, the Mackenzie Mountains, the Mackenzie Highway, and the Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Park.

Why is Alexander Mackenzie so memorialized?

          In the late 1700’s, Mackenzie, a fur trader, and explorer wanted to open up new trading routes for the fur trade. His intention was to find a route from East Canada to the Pacific Coast. On his second expedition from Fort Chipewyan in the Alberta Province, with a party of voyageurs, two native hunters/interpreters, and a dog, Mackenzie’s team reached the Pacific Coast near Bella Coola, British Columbia, where he inscribed on a rock, “Alexander Mackenzie from Canada by land, 22 July 1793.” Alexander Mackenzie was the first person to make the journey from the east to the west of Canada over the Rocky Mountains.

          Mackenzie’s earlier attempt in 1789, however, had been a major disappointment.  His explorers, seeking to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean, followed a mighty river with high hopes, paddling furiously amid great danger. Unfortunately, it didn’t empty into the Pacific, but into the Arctic Ocean. This 2,500-mile long river, later named the Mackenzie River, was called by a different name by Mackenzie; he called it the “ River of Disappointment .”

          Question: In the course of YOUR life, what awaits YOU downriver?

            King Solomon navigated many “rivers” in search of a life of meaning and fulfillment “under the sun” (cf. the book of Ecclesiastes). He tried power, wealth, worldly pleasure, and relationships with a lot of women. He found each of these “rivers” to be “rivers of disappointment” -- "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" (Eccl 1:2).

            Jesus said, “Enter by the NARROW gate; for wide is the gate and BROAD is the way that leads to DESTRUCTION, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to LIFE, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

            Jesus has “blazed the trail” to eternal life in heaven (John 14:6). It cost
Him His life to pay the price for our sins (1 Peter 2:24). The way to life is faith
(Acts 16:30-31), repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confession (Romans 10:9-10), baptism (immersion) in His name for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), and following Him completely (1 John 1:7).

            Are YOU traveling down the river of disappointment? There are many!
But there’s only one way to LIFE, and that is Jesus.
            Won’t you trust and obey Him today?

By David A. Sargent, Minister Church of Christ at Creekwood  Mobile, Alabama

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