Love in the Strangest Places

I read something on Facebook that intrigued me greatly. And because I like to confirm facts I looked it up and found it to be true. I read that the anglerfish mates by the male finding a female, biting her and releasing an enzyme which causes them to merge together to the point where they are sharing the same bloodstream. They literally become one flesh. It is a very sweet love story, unfortunately told by one of the creepiest creatures on the planet....

Let's face it, if you saw that face in the middle of the night, heck, even the middle of the day, you would run away screaming in the opposite direction! It is not what I would classify as cuddly. This fish is a predator that lurks in the depths of the ocean, luring in unsuspecting prey with the little light-emitting extension on its forehead. When prey get in close to examine this shining beacon in the dark ocean, their last impression is one of jagged teeth and a swift death. Not exactly an endearing quality!

And yet, the story of the anglerfish female and her mate is almost Biblical. The juvenile male will swim around, his entire existence focused on finding a female. Most of the time he will be unable to fend for himself, as he is much smaller than the female and not yet fully developed. Upon finding a female he attaches to her as I described in the first paragraph and they become as one. He relies on her for food and she relies on him for sperm. And it stays this way until her death. They can go through several mating cycles, always together, sharing literally everything.

I pointed out to a friend of mine that the story of the anglerfish is very Biblical, two becoming as one flesh and sharing every experience together. But I did mention that is was a shame that such a worthy love story was being told by one of the ugliest things on the planet. She then pointed out to me that, in God's eyes, our righteousness is like filthy rags (see Isaiah 64:6) and so in essence, we are much more like the anglerfish than we would care to admit! So who knew that in the dark depths of the ocean, a murky place filled with terror and teeth, lives a creature that so perfectly sums up God's plan for marriage. It just goes to show, we serve an amazing God!