The life of a salmon is a very interesting. From the fresh water rivers, they go through their normal life cycle as eggs and fingerlings and eventually live in the sea. But once they reach maturity, they have an absolute resolve to go back to their spawning grounds, hundreds or thousands of kilometres away.
These salmon risk their lives swimming upstream, against the current, against the flow in order to produce life. We could look at the life of a salmon and say, wouldn’t it be easier to just live in one place or the other? But for some unknown reason it seems they must have this sojourn. After the eggs are released and fertilized, the adult salmon die. The life cycle is complete. They think it necessary to take this journey in order to continue life in something else. Isn’t it interesting at the climax of their life (swimming upstream/overcoming obstacles/predators and laying their eggs; producing life) they die?
The same is true for the Christian. The climax of our life should be dying to ourselves (overcoming our obstacles and our predator [Satan]) in order to produce life in someone else. When we pursue Jesus Christ (who is at the core, everything holy), we become conformed to His image (being made holy). We begin to die to ourselves in order to produce life in someone else.
This is the heartbeat of the church. Making disciples who make disciples. The only way that we can be making disciples is through daily choosing to be holy in order that our new life can be lived to produce life in someone else. (SOURCE UNKNOWN)