25TH NOVEMBER
THE SALMON RUN
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2)
My husband and I love grilled salmon fish. Apart from its savoury taste, it is a source of lean, healthy protein, as well as heart and brain-healthy omega-3 fats. And how wonderful to know that there is also a lesson of life from the life cycle of the salmon!
Nothing can stop the mature salmon from migrating from the saltwater ocean upstream to the freshwater river to spawn. In one of the animal kingdom’s extreme migrations, the salmon swims against the water current to return to spawn in the exact place, in the exact stream or river where it was born. It deposits its eggs in the protection of the gravel bed in the upper reaches of the stream. After about two to six months, the eggs hatch into tiny larvae, which grow for about three years to the baby salmon and into the juvenile fish.
This fish undergoes some physiological changes to prepare it for its movement from the fresh to salt water in the harsher sea, as well as chemical changes to adjust its osmoregulation to cope with the higher salt levels it will encounter. It then spends up to four more years as an adult ocean salmon while its full swimming and reproductive capacity develops. Then it begins this final journey upstream to bring forth its fruit. This is called the salmon run.
Just like the salmon run, when we become born again, we spend time in maturing and training to prepare us for the difficult swim of life towards our eternal home to our Creator. As mature Christians, we are expected to begin our journey physically, spiritually and emotionally, upstream.
We can only bear fruit while grafted in the vine, Jesus – the exact place and exact stream of living water through whom we received our new Christian lives. Most often, our Christian life is against popular opinion. We may be alone in our decision to stand for Christ, even sometimes against our own lustful desires. We have to pass through all these to birth new souls and fruits for the Kingdom.
ACTION: The Christian life demands sacrifice. Deny self and bear your cross daily.
PRAYER: Father God, please give me the grace to bear fruit in all spheres of my life irrespective of the challenges.