Some have entered the conversation only long enough to let me know I am either not saved or that I am purposefully causing division. Hit and run commenter’s that I have begged to come back. I think they probably do this every where they go. And then there are those that have come occasionally, left some good comments but have now decided the conversation is getting too rough, too offensive or whatever else they may think. I still love you also.Big Fish
I don’t like animals in my house. Pets are just not something I care for at all. It was not always like this though. For a period of about five years, starting about twenty years ago, I experimented with all kinds of pets. Like almost everything I do, I went way overboard. At one time I ended up with a dog, two cats, a rabbit, two snakes, two iguanas, five turtles, a newt, four geckos, and two aquariums. Oh yeah, my wife and I also had six kids.
I was out of my mind. I admit to the insanity that I was going through at that time in my life.
The aquariums were the most fun and the remembrance of setting up these miniature landscapes is what led me to write this. The turtles, snakes, iguanas and fish allowed me to be creative in building and establishing the habitats that I designed. It wasn’t as much about the animals as it was those mini creations that I found fascinating.
I learned something about fish, especially goldfish. The aquariums led to outdoor creations called water gardens. I have built four of those over the years. We lived without an abundance of financial resources, as you might imagine, so I looked for ways to do things on the cheap. I found that I could go to Wal-Mart and buy “feeder” goldfish for about a dime in those days. So I would pick up about twenty and put them in one of my little ten gallon worlds and see what happened. These goldfish were not very hardy since they were only bred as food, but some would surprise me and live a while. But they never got very big.
When I constructed my first water garden I did the same thing. I stocked it with about forty of those little fish. It was early spring. By the end of that summer, one of the goldfish that had started out about an inch and a half long had grown to at least eight inches. The kids and I called it Moby Dick. Moby froze that winter and I looked in sadness sometimes at him locked in a block of ice. But the next spring, when he thawed, that fish was still alive and grew another couple of inches before it just disappeared. Probably eaten by a bird, I guessed.
Jesus implied that we are like fish when He called the disciples to follow Him and become fishers of men. The thing that has gone through my mind as I have pondered this brings me to another conclusion about our growth as the church, the people of God. As our focus has become so inward instead of outward we are becoming like those goldfish that are locked in an aquarium.
The reason Moby grew so big was because of his surroundings. When you put fish, especially goldfish in a small environment they stay small. By putting them in a larger one like my water garden they are free to grow like they are meant to. As Christ followers, we are to be fishers of men also. We are to go out into the great big world and grow large as we are fed by the Spirit of God and our mission. But a lot of us are locked into our own aquariums, our church buildings, our programs, our ministries to those in the aquarium with us, and we have stunted our growth.
Let’s get out into the wild, deep waters of the world and become really big fish. We might become big enough to be used by God to even swallow up reluctant men of God and erring prophets like Jonah. And like that first freeze showed me concerning Moby, nothing can stop us.
And one more thing; let’s pray that our leaders become more than just aquarium keepers.
Love you all
Tags: aquariums, Christ, christ followers, Church, Creation, fun, geckos, God, goldfish, insanity, little fish, mission, spirit, wal mart, water garden, world
Last week’s topic was not real popular it seems. Not many want to share their views about what it takes to be a Christian. But that violence one sure keeps going on. Thanks for the discussion to all that have and still are participating.
The last few discussions have been awesome and for some, possibly tedious. Some people I know have also relayed to me the thought that it seems a little divisive also. Hence the last post for explanation.
I used to serve Satan even while denying he existed. A lot of people do. I was an atheist. I know how some of them think and the questions and arguments some of them have. I want them to join in here so a dialogue can be initiated. So far there have not been any, except possibly one early on, actually post any comments. But there is a lot of traffic so maybe, some day.
