Against the Current

One of the most remarkable spectacles in nature is the return of salmon to their birthplace to spawn. These fish battle swift currents, leap waterfalls, dodge hungry bears, etc. all to return to the exact location where they were hatched. Depending on the species, young salmon may spend anywhere from a few weeks up to two years in freshwater streams and lakes before heading out to sea. Once reaching the ocean, it will be between one and eight years before they are instinctively drawn back to the place of their birth.

Salmon hatch in the relatively safety of shallow upstream creeks and rivers throughout the Pacific Northwest. As they grow, they move to locations where they can find food to feed their growing bodies. Each time they move to find a better food source they are also exposing themselves to more danger from predators. Eventually they reach the open ocean where they face danger in all shapes and sizes.

In many ways our development as humans shares things in common with the salmon. We are born into a relatively safe world where our parents protect us from danger. As we grow older we are exposed to not just physical dangers, but things that are dangerous to us emotionally and spiritually as well. And just as the salmon must eventually leave the safety of the stream where it hatched and enter the ocean, so too we must leave the safety and protection of our parent's home and venture out into the world on our own.

We know that God has given the salmon an instinct to return home at the appropriate time in order to breed and begin the cycle over again. I think He has done something similar for us as well. I believe He has given us an instinct, a nature, to seek Him. It this not what Paul was referring to when he said,

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. (Rom. 1:20)

(Read more)

Tony Whiddon

Updates

• Four new sermons have been added to the Sermons page. (4/1/26)
• Sermons from the February gospel meeting at Taylor's Cross Roads (AL) have been posted on the Sermons page. (2/10/26)
• Note: Our Contact form has not been working due to technical difficulties. Please email us directly at theharvesteronline@gmail.com to contact us.

Upcoming Meetings

Find us on Facebook