The Parable of the Fish Tank   QUIZ   Read the first parable and while doing so mark down all the biblical allusions/references that you notice in the parable.  Then read the second parable which is the same as the first one, only it has all 31 references and allusions noted.  Compare answers and check your “score”.   Anyone who scores higher than 10 will be rewarded with the Dairy Queen ice cream treat of your choice provided by LK Jordan    (haven’t told him this yet, so I very much look forward to how he handles this)

The Parable of the Fish Tank When I got out of college one of my desires was to own a fish tank.  another big desire was to eat at McDonalds anytime I wanted because I didn't have the money in college to eat whatever I wanted.  So I devoured Big Macs for two years, ballooned to 240 lbs. and made myself sick.  So I accomplished that goal.  Now it was time for the fish tank.   I had seen them in doctor’s offices, and I noticed that they would calm my nerves before going behind closed doors with the doctor who would do all these terrible things to you that no one else could see them do.    If they weren’t doctors they’d be arrested.         I also thought they were beautiful.  I loved all the different colors of the rock and plants and the multicolored fish and I looked forward to having my own aquarium one day.         So I bought a tank and I created a beautiful and peaceful water world.                                                                 The tank I chose had six sides and I put every brilliant color of rock and stone bridges and plants into it that I could find.   I then arranged them so that the fish had nooks and crannies to play and hide and seek in.                                                             I put white gravel on the bottom and purchased the best water filter and oxygen motor money could buy.   So what was it all for?   It was for the fish.   I wanted to give them a wonderful world to live in and it was for my pleasure as well.                                                                                                                          Then I got the fish.   I purchased angel fish, swordtails, a clown loach which was a bottom feeder beautifully striped in orange and black (I named him Barney), silver dollars, Neon tetras, tiger barbs, a red tailed “shark”, and more.                   I purchased just the right number, introduced them to their new environment slowly and incrementally, and voila’, I had a world teaming with life that I had created.   I sat back after all that work and investment of time and money and said, “This is good!”                                                                                                       I went to the pet store and bought my fish the best fish food I could find.   I got them exactly what they needed and fed them exactly the right amounts and at regular times during the day so that they would remain as healthy as possible.                                                                                                                           But almost immediately upon entering their new world, the fish began marking out their own territory.  They claimed their space and fought over it.   And they fought over the food!    There was plenty of food for all but each claimed it as their own and wouldn’t share.    It was like they owned it.   Everything was each fish for himself, “me first, me, me, me, me.                                                                                     Then a few days later one of  the angel fish has a piece of its fin bitten off and he’s really having a hard time swimming.  Then the next day he has more pieces of his fins missing and he can’t control his movements and he’s tumbling all over the place in the aquarium.  So I had to do mercy killing.  I sent him right down the toilet where he suffered more.   I should have put him right out of his misery with a hammer or something, but it didn’t have the guts to do it.         Now,  I knew this would happen.  I kind of knew the fish were going to act like this. I knew what fish were like.   but I really wanted to give life to all these fish because life is such a good thing.                        These fish are so ungrateful. Who gave them their world to live in anyway? Who is it who feeds anyway?  Who is it who provides for them everything they need?.  It’s me, their creator, that’s who!!!               If they would just do what put them there to do, everything would be good.  They would prosper, enjoy their world and live well.                                                                                                                                But they are selfish ungrateful and all is see is me me me.      So, One day I came home and even though I had a lid on my fish tank, one of the swordtails was on the floor all dried out.  There was only one small opening on top,  yet, he was so unhappy he found the one opening and jumped out.  He committed suicide right there in my living room.    Now I have to live in this home where a suicide had taken place.          So what do I the creator and sustainer of fish world do? Although it’s so obvious to them that they didn’t make the world, that They didn’t create the food that came down from heaven every day, that there is a world way bigger than theirs beyond,   That there is a living room, and beyond that a house, and beyond that a yard, and beyond that a township, and beyond that a county, and beyond that a state, and beyond that a nation, and beyond that a continent, and beyond that an earth,  and beyond  that a  solar system, and beyond that a galaxy, all of it beyond their tiny little micro-dot of a world.  Even though it’s obvious that they are like this little speck in the universe, nevertheless they think and act like they’re “it”.  They act like own the place! They  think their own hands are the hands that feed them.                                                                                                    So I make a big decision.   The only way I can communicate to these ungrateful murderous little monsters that for some odd reason I really do love them is to become a fish.                                                            I go inside a mamma fish, into an egg of a mama fish.                                                                                           I get born and fix it so that I survive that birth because mamma fish sometimes eat their young.          So I get born and grow up.                                                                                                                                I swim around their world as a fish but I’m really a human being, their creator, I am the one who feeds them. They exist because of me.   And I even tell them in whole lot of different ways that they can’t miss that I am their Creator.                 And then I swim all around the tank and tell them about why they were created and teach them how to get along with each other.  “Hey angel fish!   I get it that the tiger barbs bite, but hey you gotta forgive!   Let it go!    Every time you bite  him he bites you back worse!.   This isn’t gonna turn out good for you!    And you tiger barbs, what you do to them is gonna happen to you.  What goes around, comes around!      But it doesn’t work too well.  I tell them how to live, I even heal some of them so they know I know what I’m talking about.                                                                                                                                                 But the king fishes and queen fishes and all the soldier fishes get together and they have a power meeting and decide they like fish-world better without me.   They plot to kill me.                                                            And they do. They kill me.   They chew me up and spit me out and I get buried under this rock.                Next day some of the fish come looking for my remains and but they are gone . . . . disappeared.      They don’t know that though I was actually a fish while in the tank that I was actually their creator and had the ability to turn my remains back into a human being.                                                                                        So there I am,  right there again in  charge of their fish universe.   I go back to being their provider of all things and sustainer and of every moment of their lives.   They killed me but I love them anyway.        And what about the fish who did believe and did follow me?  I’ve got their back while they’re alive and well and I’ve got their back when they’re sick and persecuted and when they die I transform their remains into “human fish” and bring them back to life.                                                                                                         And most of all, I’ve got their back as they take my mission as their mission and give their time in the tank over to blessing, teaching, healing, helping, serving and loving the other fish, from bullied fish, to the bullying fish, from the sharks to the guppies, from the bottom feeders to the kings of the tank”                                                                The Parable of the Fish Tank                                                           (with Bible references) When I got out of college one of my desires was to own a fish tank.  Another big desire was to eat at McDonalds anytime I wanted because I didn’t have to the money in college to eat whatever I wanted.   So I devoured Big Macs for two years ballooned to 240 and make myself sick.   So accomplished that goal.  Now it was time for the fish tank.         I had seen them in doctor’s offices, and I noticed that they would calm my nerves before going behind closed doors with the doctor who would do all these terrible things to you that no one else could see them do.    If they weren’t  doctors they’d be arrested.         I also thought they were beautiful.  I loved all the different colors of the rock and plants and the multicolored fish and I looked forward to having my own aquarium one day.         So I bought a tank and I created a beautiful and peaceful water world.      John 1:4         The tank I chose had six sides and I put every brilliant color of rock and stone bridges and plants into it that I could find.   I then arranged them so that the fish had  nooks and crannies to play and hide and seek in  I put white gravel on the bottom and purchased the best water filter and oxygen motor money could buy.   So what was it all for?   It was for the fish.   I wanted to give them a wonderful world to live in and it was for my pleasure as well.      Ephesians 1:5        Colossians 1:15 Then I got the fish.   I purchased angel fish, swordtails, a clown loach which was a bottom feeder beautifully striped in orange and black (I named him Barney), silver dollars, Neon tetras, tiger barbs, a red tailed “shark”, and more.      Genesis 1:20           I purchased just the right number, introduced them to their new environment slowly and incrementally, and voila’, I had a world teaming with life that I had created.   I sat back after all that work and investment of time and money and said, “this is good!”       Genesis 2:1-3   I went to the pet store and bought my fish the best fish food I could find.   I got them exactly what they needed and fed them exactly the right amounts and at regular times during the day so that they would remain as healthy as possible.         Colossians 1:17      Philippians 4:19   But almost immediately upon entering their new world, the fish began marking out their own territory.  They claimed their space and fought over it.   And they fought over the food!    There was plenty of food for all but each claimed it as their own and wouldn’t share.    It was like they owned it.   Everything was each fish for himself, “me first, me, me, me, me.           James 4:1-3 all you need 2 Cor. 8   Then a few days later one of  the angel fish has a piece of its fin bitten off and he’s really having a hard time swimming.  Then the next day he has more pieces of his fins missing and he can’t control his movements and he’s tumbling all over the place in the aquarium.  So I had to do mercy killing.  I sent him right down the toilet where he suffered more.   I should have put him right out of his misery with a hammer or something, but it didn’t have the guts to do it.         Now,  I knew this would happen.  I kind of knew the fish were going to act like this. I knew what fish were like.   but I really wanted to give life to all these fish because life is such a good thing.      John 2:24       These fish are so ungrateful. Who gave them their world to live in anyway? Who is it who feeds anyway?  Who is it who provides for them everything they need?.  It’s me, their creator, that’s who!!!           Romans 1:19-21     If they would just do what put them there to do, everything would be good.  They would prosper, enjoy their world and live well.      Deuteronomy 4:40,  John 15:10, 11 But they are selfish ungrateful and all is see is me me me.     So, One day I came home and even though I had a lid on my fish tank, one of the swordtails was on the floor all dried out.  There was only one small opening on top,  yet, he was so unhappy he found the one opening and jumped out.  He committed suicide right there in my living room.    Now I have to live in this home where a suicide had taken place.     Matthew 27:5 So what do I the creator and sustainer of fish world do? Although it’s so obvious to them that they didn’t make the world, that They didn’t create the food that came down from heaven every day, that there is a world way bigger than theirs beyond,   That there is a living room, and beyond that a house, and beyond that a yard, and beyond that a township, and beyond that a county, and beyond that a state, and beyond that a nation, and beyond that a continent, and beyond that an earth,  and beyond  that a  solar system, and beyond that a galaxy, all of it beyond their tiny little micro-dot of a world.  Even though it’s obvious that they are like this little speck in the universe, nevertheless they think and act like they’re “it”.  They act like own the place! They  think their own hands are the hands that feed them.      Deuteronomy 8:10 to 20,              Luke 20:9-16 So I make a big decision.   The only way I can communicate to these ungrateful murderous little monsters that for some odd reason I really do love them is to become a fish.    Philippians 2:1-1,1  John 1:14 I go inside a mamma fish, into an egg of a mama fish.    Matthew 1:18 I get born and fix it so that I survive that birth because mamma fish sometimes eat their young.   (reference to abortion)                  So I get born and grow up.     Luke 2:42 I swim around their world as a fish but I’m really a human being, their creator, I am the one who feeds them. They exist because of me.   And I even tell them in whole lot of different ways that they can’t miss that I am their Creator.      Mark 14:61, 62 And then I swim all around the tank and tell them about why they were created and teach them how to get along with each other.  “Hey angel fish!   I get it that the tiger barbs bite, but hey you gotta forgive!   Let it go!    Every time you bite  him he bites you back worse!.   This isn’t gonna turn out good for you!    And you tiger barbs, what you do to them is gonna happen to you.  What goes around, comes around!     Sermon on Mt.  Matthew 5-7 But it doesn’t work too well.  I tell them how to live, I even heal some of them so they know I know what I’m talking about.   Matthew 12:15 But the king fishes and queen fishes and all the soldier fishes get together and they have a power meeting and decide they like fish-world better without me.   They plot to kill me.    Matthew 27:1 And they do. They kill me.   They chew me up and spit me out and I get buried under this rock.   Matthew 27:31       Matthew 27:60 Next day some of the fish come looking for my remains and but they are gone . . . . disappeared.      They don’t know that though I was actually a fish while in the tank that I was actually their creator and had the ability to turn my remains back into a human being.         Matthew 28:4-6 So there I am,  right there again in  charge of their fish universe.   I go back to being their provider of all things and sustainer and of every moment of their lives.   They killed me but I love them anyway.        John 3:16 And what about the fish who did believe and did follow me?  I’ve got their back while they’re alive and well and I’ve got their back when they’re sick and persecuted and when they die I transform their remains into “human fish” and bring them back to life.     1 Corinthians 15 And most of all, I’ve got their back as they take my mission as their mission and give their time in the tank over to blessing, teaching, healing, helping, serving and loving the other fish, from bullied fish, to the bullying fish, from the sharks to the guppies, from the bottom feeders to the kings of the tank”              Matthew 28:18-20                You can follow Pastor Jeff on Twitter @jefflampl