It made its way over the news and loads of people poked fun at it. A fish market in Kuwait came up with a creative way to make its “close-to-rotting fish” look fresh. The vendor purchased some plastic “googly eyes” – the kind you find in an arts and crafts store – and stuck them over the yellowing eyes of their fish. As one source explained, “The freshness of a fish can indeed be judged by its eyes. The whiter the fish’s eyes, the more recently it was caught. In this case, the googly eyes did cover up the rotting, yellowish color of the fish’s actual eyes. However, the ruse didn’t exactly go unnoticed.” In fact, local authorities shut the market down.
An article went on to explain that part of the problem is over-fishing in the Persian Gulf. A third of all the fish caught go unpurchased. This vendor was trying to keep his fish from going to waste. But he didn’t fool anyone. If the phony eyes weren’t a dead giveaway, the smell was.
You know, humanity lives in a state of denial. The Scripture faithfully diagnoses our deep-rooted problem – but we refuse to accept it. We are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-3). Therefore, we are alienated from God and powerless to reconcile ourselves to Him.
We try to pass ourselves off as alive and vibrant. Our culture tells us that if we only accumulate enough wealth, find the right person, and achieve our educational and professional goals – we’ll be happy. But our sinful and selfish deeds betray our true condition. We reek with the odors of spiritual death. As humans, we cannot secure a day free of crime and violence. In our own hearts, we cannot find a moment of peace, contentment, and true happiness. There seems to be a yearning, a consuming hunger in our hearts that nothing of this world can satisfy.
Our marketing world continually presents us with images of happy and fulfilled young people. We long to share their experience and we are offered a place among them – if we only purchase a certain brand of beer, cigarettes, sports drink, or corn chips. How absurd! We’re like those rotting fish and the media is pasting googly eyes on us to conceal our spiritual disease and our inner emptiness.
Only God can heal our spiritual disease and raise us to newness of life (Romans 6:4-11; Ephesians 2:4-10; Colossians 2:9-14). He created us for Himself and fashioned a God-shaped hole inside us that only He can fill. As Saint Augustine prayed, “O Lord, Thou hast made us for Thyself and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.” King David wrote, “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him ... Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him” (Psalm 62:1, 5). Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
PRAYER:
Dear Lord Jesus, I acknowledge my sinful and miserable condition to You. I believe that You carried my sins and bore God’s judgments and wrath on the cross for me. I also believe that You rose from the dead, conquering both sin and death. Please, dear Jesus, by Your resurrection power raise me out of death in trespasses and sins. Wash me in Your blood and fill my empty heart with Your glorious presence. Take possession of my soul and give me Your peace. Amen.
Story from: https://allthatsinteresting.com/googly-eyes-fish
