Ichthus again.

I have talked about this Christian symbol of a fish before but thought it worth looking at again here On Christmas Day.
Although the fish symbol has been used in other cultures before the Christian Community at large adopted it, most of those cultures had had no contact with one another, and it thus these generally "homegrown" meanings, meant different things to the people of these different cultures.
For the Christians, they believe that the link between their religion and the fish symbol is seen in the Greek word for fish (ictus, spelled: Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma). Thus making it an acrostic for "Jesus Christ, of God, the Son, the Savior" [Iesous (Jesus) CHristos (Christ) THeo (of God) Uiou (the Son) Soter (the Savior)].
An acrostic is an "arrangement of words in which the first letter of each line ordinarily combines with others to form a word or words or the alphabet." Put this way, it would read:
Iesous (Jesus)
CHristos (Christ)
THeou (God)
Uiou (Son)
Soter (Savior)
Adding to its common and wide acceptance, the symbol was simple to draw and was often used among Christians as a type of password during times of persecution by the Roman government. If two strangers met and were unsure whether each other was a Christian, one would draw an arc in the earth like: ). If the other were a Christian, they would complete the symbol with a reverse arc: (), forming the outline of a fish.
Thus that is how the fish symbol both came into being and its original usage as a secret sign of Belonging to Christ. However it is now no longer a secret sign and is openly displayed everywhere from letterheads, to Fridge Magnets and stickers for your car.
So now you know both what Icthus and the fish symbol means, what does it mean to you especially now at Christmas? Does it point you to Jesus Christ as God’s son and your Saviour? Or is it just another pretty symbol to you with absolutely no other significance? Just like the Christmas tree and all its baubles – pretty to look at but pretty useless too. Over to you now for true reflection on Jesus and all He’ is as Jesus the Christ and God’s own Son and Saviour.