When I was a little girl, I remember reading about one of the most interesting fish—the salmon!
What amazing creatures! God created them to swim out to sea as youngsters to live most of their lives until they are ready to reproduce. Then they make another great journey; they swim back to freshwater, back against the current of the stream to spawn and, soon after, die.
I've thought about this journey many times, relating it to our own fight against the current of this world. For we are to "come out from among them and be separate" (2 Corinthians 6:17).
Salmon fight against some of the toughest rapids and some of the strongest currents to accomplish their objective. They fight so much that they even change color and their muscles weaken! The life and times of today are becoming ever more full of distractions and wastes of time, which, if we're not careful, can take our minds off of God. What's more, they can become idols if we put them ahead of Him!
Satan is a master deceiver, using even the most gradual and cunning methods to throw God's children off course! So what are we to do?
We are to fight, to do whatever we can to stand firm with the abilities given to us by God and His precious armor (Ephesians 6:13-17). God also warns us against the dangers of weakness. "And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved" (Hebrews 10:38-39, New International Version).
We are essentially to swim upstream. With God's help, we are to swim against the forces pulling against us, never forgetting that it is He who strengthens us and we can do all things with Him (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13).
Salmon would never make it back to their spawning areas to produce offspring if they gave up or if they were weak. They would never achieve their goal.
What about our goal? How much more important is the reward God is promising us if we press on toward the vision and endure to the end? Swim upstream, fellow family members, swim!
