Once again it was a perfect spring morning, and at breakfast Joe said to Haley, “This would be a perfect day to take the kayaks out on the Black River and go exploring.” Haley was so excited to hear this that she accidently dropped her bowl of Fruit Loops on the floor! Then she accidently stepped on the Fruit Loops and they rolled under her feet and she fell down with a loud crunch! The crunch was the noise made by all the Fruit Loops being crushed to powder when her body landed on them. After the mess was cleaned up, they finished eating breakfast, then Joe got his crutches and went out to the barn. He hooked a trailer behind their four-wheeler and loaded their two kayaks, paddles and life jackets onto the trailer. He used bungee cords to strap his crutches to the side of the four-wheeler. Sara and Daniel came out to the barn and got on the four-wheeler, and they left for the river.
The river was calm and peaceful this morning. Once Joe got into his kayak, he had Haley put his crutches on the 4-wheeler, he would not need his crutches while he was in the kayak. Daniel watched Haley getting into her kayak, then he decided! Daniel ran over to Joe’s kayak and got in with Joe! Daniel had seen how clumsy Haley could be, and he did not want to get dumped into the river! Joe’s kayak was much safer for the raccoon! They paddled side-by side for a while, then the river got a little narrower just before a curve. Joe said to Haley, “We need to go single file here. I will go in front. Joe paddled faster and took the lead, this time Haley obeyed Joe and stayed behind him while they went through the narrow place in the river and around the curve. A little ways after the curve the river split in three different directions, the main part of the river went straight, but there was a little creek that went to the left and another little creek that went to the right. Joe said to Haley, “We have already explored the creek to the left and the creek to the right. Today we will take the main part of the river and go straight ahead.”
Haley took the lead and went up the river. They were going against the river’s current, but it was not too hard. The river was wide and the current was slow here. The water was clear, and Haley could look into the water and see the fish. She saw quite a few large fish and they all seemed to be swimming up the river, going in the same direction as Joe and Haley. They paddled along for quite a while and then Haley started to notice two things; it was getting harder to paddle the kayak and she could hear a noise. It sounded like a strong wind, but the wind was not blowing. Haley asked Joe, “Why is it getting so hard to paddle my kayak, and what is that noise?” Joe answered, “The current is getting much stronger and we are paddling against it. That is why it is so hard to paddle. The noise sounds like rapids in the river! I think we will see something exciting soon!”
A few minutes later Joe and Haley went around a curve and saw rapids in front of them! There were many rocks in the river and the water was flowing fast. The large fish that Haley had seen earlier were all around them! Some of the fish were more than three feet long! They were all swimming upstream against that strong current and some were jumping out of the water and falling back in with huge splashes! Haley yelled above the noise of the rapids, “Joe, what kind of fish are these? Why are they swimming upstream and jumping out of the water?” Joe yelled back, “These are sturgeon! They are swimming upstream to spawn (this means that they will lay their eggs). These fish lay their eggs in fast moving water where there are a lot of rocks!” Haley and Joe had to paddle hard just to keep their kayaks in one position so that they could watch the sturgeon! Just then a huge sturgeon, about four feet long, jumped out of the water and landed on Haley’s kayak! Haley screamed louder than she had ever screamed before! The big fish flopped around on the kayak and tipped it over as he slid back into the water! Of course, Haley fell into the water too! Her life jacket brought her right back up to the surface, but she was in that fast current with all those big fish around her! Fortunately, there were no rocks close to Haley, but when she kept bumping into those big fish, she kept screaming! The current began to take her back down the river!
Joe saw what was happening and quickly turned his kayak around and began chasing Haley down the river! She was going so fast that it was hard to keep up with her! The current took Haley under a tree with low branches and Haley grabbed onto a branch and yelled for Joe to save her. Joe almost got to her, but then the branch broke, and Haley was swept downstream in that fast current again! At last, they were far enough away from the rapids so that the current slowed down, Haley was able to grab another tree branch and this time Joe caught up with her. Haley grabbed the rope on the back of Joe’s kayak, and he pulled her to shore. As Haley staggered out of the water she said, “Joe, my kayak is lost!” Joe replied, “I think if we are patient for a few minutes, the river current will probably bring your kayak to us!” Sure enough, in a few minutes Haley’s kayak came floating down the river and her paddle was floating close behind the kayak. Joe paddled out into the middle of the river and caught Haley’s kayak and paddle and brought them to her on the shore.
Later as they were floating back down the river Haley asked Joe, “Why do the sturgeons all go upstream against that strong current just to lay their eggs in that spot? It seems like a lot of work, there must be an easier way!” Joe answered, “God made the sturgeons that way! They know that unless their eggs are laid in fast moving water with a lot of rocks, their babies will not have a good chance of living! The grown-up fish do a lot of work so that their babies have the best chance of surviving!” Haley said to Joe, “It seems like you always have a Bible lesson for me whenever I learn something from nature. What should I learn from this?” Joe said, “I’m glad you asked! Right before Jesus went back up to heaven he told the believers that their job was to go and make disciples. A disciple is a new (baby) Christian. We are supposed to help new Christians to get to know God and help them to live the Christian life! But this is not easy, it takes a lot of effort! Just like the sturgeons have to do a lot of work swimming upstream so that their babies can survive, we have to put in a lot of work helping a new Christian as they start out in the Christian life. If we do not help the new Christians, they will not have a good chance of getting to be stronger Christians and growing closer to God!”
Application:
We need to remember that a Christian is a person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, who died to pay for our sins, rose from the dead, and that person has asked Jesus to forgive their sins and has given their life to Jesus. Every person who has done this has the responsibility to help other people who are just starting their relationship with Jesus. When we help a new Christian to learn about the God and how to live to please God, this is called discipling that person. Every Christian has the responsibility to disciple new believers.
In the Bible in Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus says:
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
When we disciple a new believer, we should not just give them a book to read or a website to listen to, but we should become their friend. We need to encourage them and help them as they learn about Jesus and the wonderful, different life He has called us to live.
The Bible describes this in Galatians 6:2-3 where it says:
Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
The Bible also talks about this in Romans 12:9-10 and Romans 12:15-16
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.
Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
Being a Christian is not just about you, God designed us to help each other and grow alongside other believers. Look around you and reach out to other believers. This is the way God designed us to live!