The Betta Siamese Fighting Fish of Thailand has an unusual way of making a home and raising a family.
The male does the work, going to the surface and blowing a nest of bubbles, adding a cement to hold them together. Then he finds a female companion and takes her to look it over. Usually she is excited about this lovely home and decides it is a good place to raise about three dozen babies.
However, she doesn’t know how to get her eggs into the nest. Each egg that she lays drops to the bottom. The male takes care of this problem. He swims after each egg, picks it up in his mouth, swims to the nest, and blows it into the bubbly home. How do you think they learned to work together this way?
When the babies hatch the parents stand by to guard them. The babies are not allowed out of the nest until they are big enough to take care of themselves.
These are little fish, not over three inches long, but they are under the watchful eye of the Lord, their Creator, just as much as the largest fish. The Bible tells us, “The eyes of all wait upon Thee.” Psalms 145:1515The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. (Psalm 145:15). How nice to think of the Creator, the Lord God, not only creating them, but always taking care of them in their never-changing ways. He is the One who gives them the ability to work together in this interesting way.
The Stickleback has this name because its back has spiny fins sticking up sharply as a warning to its enemies. Like the Siamese Fighting Fish these also have an unusual method of nesting.
The male picks up pieces of vegetation that he finds floating on the water and weaves them together to form a home. This home or nest has tunnels at each end and is attached to a living plant just beneath the surface. After the nest is finished he looks for a mate and brings her to see what he has built. Soon they move into this double-ended nest and raise their family in it.
There are so many unusual and interesting kinds of life throughout the world, and only a relatively few have been seen by man. But the eyes of the Lord are always on each of His creatures. He cares for every one of them and takes delight in watching how they always obey Him—each one following the pattern He set up in the days of creation.
We must never forget that He is our Maker, too, as the Psalmist rinds us, “Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” Psalms 100:33Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3). We should obey His Word and please Him by accepting the salvation He so kindly offers through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. “To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 4:77Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Hebrews 4:7).
ML-02/07/1982