Last week as I was praying for many of my coworkers, and relatives, I asked the Lord why so many people are turning from their faith to other religions. Why are they leaving the churches and why are they blending in with all their peers instead of taking a stand?
As I begin to pray about certain subjects I always start watching to see how the Lord might answer my question.
The first thing that happened was that I began to have interest is studying out different species of fish. Then, one day at work a coworker held up a book and it had a photo of a bear with it's mouth open and a fish going inside. He said, "Some days we are the bear. Some days we are the fish."
As time went on there were several other things that came up about fish, so I decided I would dive a little deeper into the ocean and see why fish do certain things.
My reading revealed that when fish are greatly frightened they all join together traveling in a school as a protective defense. The more the fish blend in with the group, the safer they feel and the safer they feel, the less alarm pheromones they emit out to each other.
The salmon is unlike any other fish. It knows that to reproduce, it must not blend in. It must not school with all the other fish, it must do exactly what it was created to do in order to reproduce and carry on the ecosystem. The salmon has something built into them that with uncanny precision they return to the very same spawning ground where they were born.
Many changes take place in the salmon prior to returning to their birthplace to spawn. They stop using their red muscles and start using their white ones. The salmon loses it's silvery color and becomes a darkened color. The males develop canine looking teeth and a hook in the mouth.
Skilled predators such as eagles and bears wait patiently by the streams during the fall right when the salmon are swimming upstream to spawn, thus making their trip even more treacherous. Not only do the salmon swim upstream but to get past raging waterfalls, they have to fight the current and jump many times up to 12 feet in order to keep swimming upstream.
The male salmon start changing and usually get a hump on their back thus making them more vulnerable to predators which protects the female salmon. They don't swim lower than the females but higher, knowing that if the predators spot the female they will not be able to reproduce and carry on the species.
The salmon understand that in order to keep their species alive, they must go against the flow and not with the flow. They must fight to get upstream and they must become stronger and tough enough to bypass the otters, eagles and bears. They must pay attention to their sense of smell and keep moving upward to survive.
As I read about these fish, I realized more keenly that our younger generation is possibly filled with not only fear but
great fear. They are doing all they can to blend in and swim with the group so they will not be singled out.
This makes sense, for I have, many times also felt the pressure to be like the crowd. I am tempted to go with the flow, talking of yoga, meditation, and movies such as Harry Potter or Star Wars. "I should even quote Yoda to fit in." "Just blend in. Don't stand out and be different as it makes others uncomfortable." It also makes me uncomfortable.
But to carry on our her
itage – our godly heritage, we must stay different. We were born with a sinful nature and redeemed through the blood of Christ. We were raised to stand for the truth of the Word of God. So let's make the trip upstream instead of blending in with everyone who is filled with fear.
