“Take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money.” Matthew 17:27
Across the Pacific Ocean the Mekong River flows through fields and hills of northern Thailand, and it is here that a huge fish, called plaa buk, provides the natives with some fishing thrills each year.
A full-grown plaa buk is six to nine feet long and may weigh six to seven hundred pounds. Though it looks like a small whale, it is a member of the catfish family, and its grayish-pink smooth skin has no scales. Much of its weight is in its massive wide-mouthed head, from which its body tapers down to a large upright tail.
To catch one of these fish, natives travel together in a group of large dugout canoes. They spread a huge net between two canoes starting at one shore, with another net between two more next to them and one or two more nets and canoes if needed, until they spread across to the opposite shore. The canoes drift slowly downstream. A net is the only way to catch one of these monsters, since fishing lines would immediately break.
After a plaa buk has been caught in one of the nets, the crews are busy making sure it doesn’t escape. The net is drawn to the shore, and then floated to a riverside dock where there usually are some excited men, women and children waiting to see the action. They hope they may be given a piece to take home, for this fish is considered a very tasty treat.
Ropes are attached to the net, and strong men pull the fish from the water onto dry land, where the audience gets a good look at it before it is killed and cut up for carrying away.
Sometimes these fish are divided among the people, with the fishermen rewarded with the largest portions. But not always. Restaurants in nearby cities will pay a good price for this meat, which they serve to customers who will pay high prices for it. Some restaurants will pay as much as $1000 for just one fish—giving a native more money than he could otherwise earn in a whole year’s time. It is easy to see why these fish are usually sold rather than eaten in native huts!
The Lord God who arranged for a fish to bring a piece of money to Peter (see the opening verse) is the One who knows all the fish of the world. He is their Creator and has placed them in the waters to serve His purposes. He knows all about you too: “Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps?” (Job 31:4). David also wrote, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker” (Psalm 95:6). Have you ever knelt down before your Maker and worshipped Him?
ML-09/04/2011