The Fish I Bothered To Save
I have one pet fish. He is a Betta fish and I named him Koiné. He has almost died. Twice. The first time, the water in his bowl got too cold during a cold spell here in the sunshine state, and the second time, he jumped out of his bowl and landed behind my bookcase.
One morning, about two weeks ago, I went to feed him and when I got to his bowl I saw that he wasn’t there. I stood there looking at his empty bowl for a few moments waiting for it all to “click”. When it did I frantically began to search for my little fishy, knowing that if there was a fish on my bedroom floor, I needed to find it and find it soon. Needless to say I found him behind my bookcase and assumed the worse, but only until my hand bumped into the side of it. When it did, I noticed that Koiné flopped a little. He was ALIVE…and needed to get back into water as soon as possible. There was just one problem. There was a bookcase between me and him. A bookcase that is heavy and immovable when full of books. I would have had my dad help me move it, or maybe my brother, but neither of them were home. I had no time to dawdle. I pulled with all my might. Slowly it began to move. I could almost reach him. I pulled more. There! Finally there was enough room for my mom to reach back and scoop him into his bowl. He was safe!
I am not an animal lover by any stretch of the imagination, but when I saw my fish lying helplessly on the floor, dying, my heart broke and I did all I could to save him. Shortly after this happened, it made me think about unbelievers. Those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior are just as helpless. The only difference is that the only place Koiné’s going when he dies is the Great Fish-Bowl Beyond the Sewer.
Richard Baxter once said,
“A foolish physician he is, and a most unfaithful friend, that will let a sick man die for fear of troubling him; and cruel wretches are we to our friends, that will rather suffer them to go quietly to hell, then we will anger them, or hazard our reputation with them.”
Are we doing all that we can to witness to and share the Gospel with the unbelievers we know? Or are we just letting them die quietly and alone?
Filed under: Christian Living, Uncategorized
Kaitlin, thankyou so much for this post. Just this morning, I knew that God was calling me to speak to someone about Him. I did and got a metaphorical slap in the face. (If the woman in question could have custom-tailored the response to exactly hit my weak point she couldn’t have done better.) This post was just the encouragement I needed to firm my resolve to not be afraid to broach the subject with others I know…despite the fact that I might get an even worse response next time.
“Behold, I am with you.”
Amazing. Great post! It reminds me of that commercial that they used to show on TV about saving friends that use drugs — it shows a kid lying in the road beside his mangled bicycle, hurt and unable to get up. He reaches out for his friend to grasp his hand and asks his friend for help, but his friend just stands there and stares at him as you hear a semi-truck approaching. Then it questions the viewer as to why they aren’t saving their friends lives by giving them a helping hand and talking to them about their problems with drugs that are, in reality, threatening their lives. When I saw that commercial it struck me as being true of Christians too often. Our friends are hurt and gasping for air and on their way to hell and I’m just standing there staring at them. But not anymore. Amen, sister. I needed this. May we always be compelled to do all that is needed and our hearts break for the lost as God’s does until every one of them is safe.
And, on another note, I’m really glad your fish is okay — I can totally relate to animal crisis and know the terrible moments of panicked waiting and frantic struggle to save the reckless little critter. Once we had the air ducts in our house cleaned and then didn’t know where our cat was. We just assumed she was hiding and would turn up when she was convinced the workmen were gone and was no longer afraid. And she definitely was hiding. That evening, we heard these muffled little mews coming from under the floor. Upon quick inspection of the vicinity from which they came we realized that she was down in the air duct — very stuck. My mom came to the rescue and pulled her out while I stood by and worried hard (it seemed to take forever to get her out of there!). My cat came out warm, angry and disinfected — but safe. I wholeheartedly hope both our pets have learned their lesson.
Great Post! The picture at the front appealed, and the story was catching. Thanks for sending a fundamental question out so descriptively- I could really picture what you were saying after imagining the fish incident. For, we need to declare the truth of the Gospel boldly, and that’s something I need to be reminded of consistently. THANKS!
I told my mom about this story and when I got to the part about that the fish had jumped out she said, “Had she noticed it had been looking depressed lately?”
Maybe it would help if you pasted some encouraging, uplifting quotes on the sides of his bowl?
Just a thought! =)
Thanks for your comments, girls! They’ve been very encouraging to me!
Nicole: I laughed when I read what your mom said. I don’t think he’s depressed. I don’t know how to tell though. But he seems to be his usual self now and he hasn’t tried it again, so I’m happy!
Our hearts should be filled with compassion towards the lost and dying…this is a great illustration of how we can be so compassionate and kindhearted about other just causes…but we lack zeal and compassion at times on the things that should matter most.
Excellent post!
Kim
Maybe he had just read Do Hard Things! =)
“I’ve spent my whole life in this tiny little bowl — I feel like I’m just going in circles!”
And then he lept…
No, I’m just kidding. And for any concerned… I did like that book. =)
Yes, I well remember the fish rescue. That’s exactly how the Lord saved us, we who were helpless to save ourselves.
(Excellent analogy, by the way.)