Fish Out of Water

As the small rowboat rocked with the gentle motion of the water, Andrew watched his father cast out his fishing line. "Dad," said Andrew, "I don't want to go to the new church tomorrow. All my friends are back at our old church. I know we had to move because of your job, but I'm going to miss Pastor Davis and my friends."Dad slowly reeled in his line a little and looked at his son. "I'm going to miss everybody too, but when we get settled in a new church, we'll make new friends. We still need to worship God and learn more about Him.""But can't we just have church by ourselves at home?" asked Andrew. "You could play your guitar and we could sing. Then you and Mom could teach us from the Bible.""Hold on a minute," said Dad. "I've got a bite." A minute later, he held up a small bluegill. "Looks like this one is too small to be of any use to us," he said. "What would happen if we just threw this fish in the boat and left it there?""It would die," said Andrew."Well, what if, instead of throwing it back, we take the fish to another lake and let it loose?" Dad asked. "Would it be able to live there?"Andrew thought a moment. "I think so, as long as we didn't leave it out of water too long.""Well," said Dad, "our family is a little like a fish that's been taken from one lake and put into another. We're in a new place, but we have everything we need to go on living--food, clothes, a home." He paused. "There's one more thing we need. We need to have fellowship with other Christians, and church is a good place to do that. If we don't go, we're a little like fish out of water.""We wouldn't die," Andrew pointed out."No," said Dad, "we wouldn't actually die, but we'd miss an environment where we can be fed and encouraged spiritually and where we can encourage others." Andrew was silent a few moments. "Okay, Dad," he said finally. He gave his dad a little grin. "This is one fish you've convinced." -Daniel A. Burns