Truly Mated for Life

Genesis 2:24
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

Did you know that some fish actually go fishing? Yes, the female anglerfish lives deep down where it is cold and dark, and it has a six-inch-long fishing pole fixed to its top lip with a little orange light on the end. When the angler is not fishing, the rod fits into a groove on the top of its head. The angler’s victim swims along and sees the orange light – the bait – to him, it looks like a good lunch for a small fish. He moves in, but it jumps out of reach and the next thing he knows he becomes the anglerfish’s lunch!

The strangest part of the anglerfish’s life is its mating practices. While the female is over three-feet long – and the mouth takes up almost half this length – the male anglerfish is only a half-inch long. He has no fishing pole and no light. Mating starts when the tiny male swims up to the female and sinks his teeth into her side. He never lets go for the rest of his life. In fact, soon his skin and circulatory system actually join the female’s, and through this union they become, literally, one flesh. Eggs are eventually laid.

Our Creator has an infinite variety of ways to reproduce the species but this one demonstrates quite literally the one-flesh principle of human marriage.

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, at virtually every wedding we remember Your presence at the wedding at Cana where You did the first miracle of Your ministry. Help me always to keep my marriage relationship as You intended it, and through it become enriched. Amen.

Notes:
Photo: Female anglerfish with atrophied males attached. Courtesy of Robbie N. Cada.