Glofish Serve Their Creators' Purpose

Colossians 1:16 - For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Recently my family was visiting the Mystic Aquarium and saw an interesting tank of fish. These particular fish literally glow in the dark. However, they are not a naturally occurring fish. They are a species that has been designed by scientists. The common Zebra fish was genetically altered by genes from another fish. The result was a new man-made species of fish. According to Glofish.com they “were originally bred more than ten years ago to help detect environmental pollutants. By adding a naturally derived fluorescence gene to the fish, scientists hoped to quickly and easily determine when a waterway is contaminated.” It did not take long for scientists to find other uses for these fish and their use spread to a number of experiments across the nation. Once the public began to see them in various experiments, interest also spread for their use as a unique decorative fish in aquariums around the country. That was how the school in the tank we saw in Mystic arrived came to be.

What caught my attention about this tank of fish (in addition to the bright colors) was the big deal the curators made about THESE fish being “designed” by someone instead of being a product of evolution. There were several signs explaining it, as well as a recording one could listen to at the push of a button. There was a series of interactive screens that could be pulled across the front of the tank that showed the fish in different lights which simulated various types of pollution the fish helped expose. It was quite the display for a simple group of fish derived from something as common as the Zebra fish.

As I wandered through all the other tanks, I wondered why those same curators could not realize that ALL the fish in ALL the tanks were designed by Someone. They did not simply evolve. All fish, in fact, all of life, is the product of a mighty God, not the product of a muddy glob. The evidence of the Designer is all around us, and we do not need interactive screens, or professionally prepared voice overs or plaques on walls to understand this. All we need do is look at the order of nature and realize such order must have come from a Designer. For those who know Christ, we know the Designer by name.

Lord, may everyone who looks at the engineered Glofish come to understand that all of us are designed for a purpose by a Designer who cares deeply for us.

------------------------------------------

Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter and writer who has lived in New England for over 20 years. An energetic speaker, he often finds ordinary things in life to help him teach powerful truths from God's Word.