All We Like Fishies

"For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John3:16




It was probably months since I cleaned my small, round aquarium filled with quite an amount of fishes. So, I decided to clean it today. I first grabbed some stuff from my kitchen:

1) A small basin filled with H2O(if you happen to not know, this is water, not some kind of acid)
2) A cup
3) A bucket
4) A piece of ragged cloth

After about 2 minutes of searching and grabbing, I brought all the things needed to the front of my house where my aquarium is placed. Before I started, I snapped some pictures of my greenish, engulfed with algae aquarium for 'remembrance' cause to achieve this kind of aquarium water, I need to wait for a month or more.(you're probably asking me, am I serious?) These are the pictures before it is washed.



Pity those fishes.

Anyways, it took me(with my mom's help) approximately 2 whole hours just to clean it - taking out the fish, draining the water, rinse the aquarium. multiple times, take out the stones, wash the stones, take out the plant, wash the plants, trim and throw away some old leaves, wash again..........................and finally, poured in new, clean, purified water into the aquarium(after this, the fishes are also moved carefully back into its new home). Again, I took a few pictures to show how happy the fishes are, in their new, cosy, fresh, clear,..........(if I keep writing, it'll fill the whole page) home.

Look carefully: you may spot a few fishes smiling with its big round eyes (whoa, seriously??)

As I was doing all this, a thought came to me that somehow

1) The fishes in the aquarium are like humans

2) The green thingy or algae is like the worldly pleasures and temptations of the world

3) The dirty water is like our sins

My heart was touched and remembered the famous verse from the Bible :"For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John3:16 God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins so that we have a chance to have eternal life in Heaven. In Peter 2:24, the Word of God says:" He(Jesus) himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to our sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." If Jesus had not died on the cross, then we are still living in habitual sin and do not have eternal hope. ".....for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23

Then, again, I realized something:

1) The aquarium filled with clean purified water is like our heart, washed by Jesus' blood on the cross and become pure.

2) The fish seem to be more lively and their body colour became ligther than before - by inviting Jesus to be the Lord of our life, and ask for repentance for our sins, we have triumph over death and have eternal life.

To know and believe that Jesus died for our sins and resurrected is not enough. We must sincerely pray for our sins and ask God for forgiveness(repentance) and accept Jesus into our hearts as our Savior and Redeemer(acceptance). "Believe in Christ Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household." Acts 16:31 Through Christ can only we have life and real joy as well as peace. For "Salvation is found in no one else(only Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 When we truly believe in Jesus, we are then justified freely through God's grace. "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:24

No one, except through our faith in Jesus Christ, that we will be saved from the worldly desires and the fires of hell . Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."John 14:6

Jesus said: " Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me .' Revelation 3 : 20.

Side Note:

If you are a non-believer and is ready to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior(even if you are already Christian), you can pray this simple prayer as an invitation to open your heart to Jesus(or to renew oneself in faith):

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.”