Mr. Fisherman has had a good day. He has stood long and patiently with his rod and line. Many times over he felt an exciting tug at his line, and he has caught some fine fish.
Now, somebody must set to work with a knife, and remove the fins and scales, which are not good eating—but very important to the fish.
God told the Israelites, in the book of Leviticus, that they must not eat any water-creatures, that had not fins and scales. (Lev. 11:1010And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: (Leviticus 11:10).) Therefore they could not eat eels or frogs, but they could freely eat of the fish in our picture.
Do you know why God made this law and what lesson it has for us today? Remember that fins and scales are needed to enable the fish to swim against the current, and to protect it from its surroundings. God calls these fish “clean” and the ones without fins and scales are “unclean.”
You see, God intends that even the fish should be a constant reminder of what He requires of us. He wants us to swim against the stream! It is very easy to do what other boys and girls are doing, and tints to float along with the current. But it takes a good set if fins to swim upstream, and it takes a good deal of energy not to do the wrong things that others are doing, because you want to please the Lord.
Have you ever heard of the salmon, which leaps up great rocky waterfalls, in order to reach its home? God has given it the needed energy for this task, and He will give you the strength to go against any force of evil, if you are one of His “clean” ones and seek His help.
Do the other children do things that are disobedient and unkind? Remember that the current of this world is sweeping right on down to destruction, but you, dear Christian, do not have to go with the crowd. Upstream may be a real struggle, but God requires obedience at any cost. Did not our blessed Lord Jesus go even to death for us, with the voice of the crowd raised against Him? Surely His life and His death were “against the stream,” and now those whom He has saved and cleansed in His most precious blood find that the world has not changed. It is still at enmity with God and we can only expect its scorn if we seek to follow Jesus.
ML 07/15/1951