THE HARVESTING ANT
Proverbs 6:6-8
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."
God cares about all of the creatures He has made – even ants. God has invented such incredible ways to provide for them that Bible skeptics often get caught in their own traps!
Those who don't believe the Bible is the Word of God have in the past pointed out an error, as they call it, in Proverbs 6:8. Proverbs 6:6 8 talks about the wisdom of the ant in gathering and storing food for the winter. Skeptics said this must come from some ancient myths about ants because there are no ants known to gather and store food. In the last few years, however, their laughter has stopped. We now know of three different species of ants that gather and store food. And guess what? Two of these species are native to Palestine!
Evolutionists tell us that they are sure the first real human beings weren't even smart enough to gather and store grain and seeds. It is obvious that ants who gather and store grain and seeds are totally unexpected by evolution. But we know that we have a Creator who provides for all the needs of all His creatures – even ants.
The Bible shows itself to be true in all earthly things it tells us about. This is God's way of impressing upon us the accuracy of His Word so that we might believe when it tells us about spiritual things like our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I thank You, Lord, that You have not given us such wonderful brains and then asked us to ignore them and blindly believe. In Your wisdom, You give reasons to believe to those who believe and leave those who refuse deluded by their own wisdom so that they might seek You. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. Amen.
Proverbs 6:6-8
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."
God cares about all of the creatures He has made – even ants. God has invented such incredible ways to provide for them that Bible skeptics often get caught in their own traps!
Those who don't believe the Bible is the Word of God have in the past pointed out an error, as they call it, in Proverbs 6:8. Proverbs 6:6 8 talks about the wisdom of the ant in gathering and storing food for the winter. Skeptics said this must come from some ancient myths about ants because there are no ants known to gather and store food. In the last few years, however, their laughter has stopped. We now know of three different species of ants that gather and store food. And guess what? Two of these species are native to Palestine!
Evolutionists tell us that they are sure the first real human beings weren't even smart enough to gather and store grain and seeds. It is obvious that ants who gather and store grain and seeds are totally unexpected by evolution. But we know that we have a Creator who provides for all the needs of all His creatures – even ants.
The Bible shows itself to be true in all earthly things it tells us about. This is God's way of impressing upon us the accuracy of His Word so that we might believe when it tells us about spiritual things like our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I thank You, Lord, that You have not given us such wonderful brains and then asked us to ignore them and blindly believe. In Your wisdom, You give reasons to believe to those who believe and leave those who refuse deluded by their own wisdom so that they might seek You. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. Amen.
THE GIRAFFE'S WONDER NET
Job 9:10
"Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number."
Did you ever stand up a little too quickly and get dizzy? That happens because by standing you may have temporarily lowered the blood pressure in your brain. Can you imagine what can happen when the giraffe swings his head from the ground to the treetop?
The giraffe's heart and the rest of his cardiovascular system are very different from ours – and from most other creatures. If it weren't different, there wouldn't be any giraffes! In order to get his blood all the way from his heart up that long neck to his brain, the giraffe's heart must produce twice as much blood pressure as would be expected in an animal his height.
But the giraffe's brain is very sensitive to high blood pressure. So giraffes have been given a special structure that's been called the "wonder net", where the blood supply enters his brain. This wonder net keeps the blood pressure in the giraffe's brain just where it should be. Even if the giraffe drops his head quickly – say, from nibbling a treetop to take a drink of water – the blood pressure in his head remains safe. The wonder net can quickly control such rapid changes. And to prevent used blood from draining back into his brain when he lowers his head, the giraffe has a special set of one way check valves in his neck.
When we talk about our Creator, we need not be afraid that some people will think we are talking about worthless things. Truly, the wonders the Creator has made are great and worthy to be told to people far and wide!
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, give us the bold conviction we need to boldly tell others what You have done – from our creation to our salvation. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
"Sticking out his neck." Creation Science Report (Creation Science Research Center, San Diego, CA), July 1974.
Job 9:10
"Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number."
Did you ever stand up a little too quickly and get dizzy? That happens because by standing you may have temporarily lowered the blood pressure in your brain. Can you imagine what can happen when the giraffe swings his head from the ground to the treetop?
The giraffe's heart and the rest of his cardiovascular system are very different from ours – and from most other creatures. If it weren't different, there wouldn't be any giraffes! In order to get his blood all the way from his heart up that long neck to his brain, the giraffe's heart must produce twice as much blood pressure as would be expected in an animal his height.
But the giraffe's brain is very sensitive to high blood pressure. So giraffes have been given a special structure that's been called the "wonder net", where the blood supply enters his brain. This wonder net keeps the blood pressure in the giraffe's brain just where it should be. Even if the giraffe drops his head quickly – say, from nibbling a treetop to take a drink of water – the blood pressure in his head remains safe. The wonder net can quickly control such rapid changes. And to prevent used blood from draining back into his brain when he lowers his head, the giraffe has a special set of one way check valves in his neck.
When we talk about our Creator, we need not be afraid that some people will think we are talking about worthless things. Truly, the wonders the Creator has made are great and worthy to be told to people far and wide!
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, give us the bold conviction we need to boldly tell others what You have done – from our creation to our salvation. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
"Sticking out his neck." Creation Science Report (Creation Science Research Center, San Diego, CA), July 1974.
THE BAT'S SPECIAL RADAR DESIGN
Matthew 6:27-29
"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
If you wake up when it's still dark, you know how overwhelming it can be to turn on the light. Your eyes may even hurt at first. If you've had this experience, you can understand one of the problems that had to be solved when radar was developed.
Basically, radar is made up of two parts. The transmitter sends out a powerful beam of radar waves. But the other part of the radar system is a very sensitive receiver that cannot stand the powerful outgoing signal. One of the major technical problems to be overcome in developing modern radar involved sending out this powerful signal without overwhelming the sensitive receiver. What scientists finally developed was a fast switch that turns the sensitive receiver off every time a radar pulse is sent out.
Bats, who have their own sonic radar, had this problem solved from the beginning. They have muscles in their ears that are the receivers for the echoes. These muscles close the ears for split seconds when the bats are sending out their high pitched signals.
Without this feature, the bat's navigational system would be useless. How could a bat figure out that it needed this ability and then decide to grow the muscles and related tissue to do the job? When one decides to say that creatures, instead of the Creator, have made themselves, one can end up with some very silly conclusions!
Dear Father, You have made all things well and with the good of the creation in mind. Help me to remember this when I tend to think of Your Word as separated from the realities of everyday life, thereby missing out on so many of the blessings You have prepared for me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Henson, O.W. 1971. Journal of Physiology, v. 180. p. 871.
AIRBORNE SNAKES
James 4:7
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
One of the things the Hawaiian Islands have been famous for is that they have no snakes. But although there are no friends or relatives for them to visit, increasing numbers of brown tree snakes are catching the next plane to Hawaii.
The snake is native to the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Thirty years ago, Guam had no snakes either. Now there are up to 30,000 of the slightly venomous snakes per square mile. They were probably inadvertently carried to Guam by military transport planes. Guam's birds had never seen snakes before and had no natural fear of them. Since brown tree snakes are excellent climbers, most of Guam's bird species were wiped out.
The snakes' love of climbing seems to be their ticket to the Hawaiian Islands. They climb airplane landing gears and make the trip in cargo holds or wheel wells. Two snakes were recently discovered on a runway in Oahu on the same day. One died, but the other was still alive when found. Authorities are worried about more than what the presence of snakes might do to tourism. Hawaii's beautiful tropical birds would be easy pickings for the snakes, just as were the birds in Guam. Experimental snake barriers are now being devised for use at island airports.
God protects His creatures by giving them the ability to recognize their enemies. We need to recognize the disguises of our enemies, too. Our greatest enemy, Satan, has been vanquished by the Son of God, Who took the form of a man for our salvation.
Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that You have told us of the forgiveness of sins that has been won for us by Your Son, Jesus Christ. You have also taught us how to recognize our enemy in Your Word and taught us how to flee him. Amen.
Yoon, Carol Kaesuk. 1992. "Hawaii's military, civilian leaders fear brown tree snake invasion." Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 19. p. 19A.
THE NOT-SO-GENTLE WHALE
Genesis 1:26
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
Like dinosaurs, whales are huge and wondrous creatures whose sheer size and majesty glorify the Creator. Some whales are even larger than were any of the dinosaurs.
Whales were hunted for generations for processing into a variety of products. It was not until they were hunted to near extinction that governments began to work to prevent this from happening. Much of the hunting was justified on the grounds that whales were ruthless killers. After that perception of whales was proven wrong, the pendulum swung the other way. As a result, the public – and even many scientists – began to romanticize whales. They were presented to the public as gentle, benevolent giants. It became stylish to talk about the whale as an intelligent creature, rivaling and perhaps surpassing humans. Now more objective research into whale behavior shows that whales, while magnificent creatures, are nothing more than wild animals.
Researchers have learned that while whales can be gentle, they can also be terribly violent. They have documented males in vicious battles for the attentions of females. Sometimes as many as 10 males will be involved in a free-for-all. Their fighting tactics include ramming each other at full force with their 40-ton bodies. Whales are not very loyal, either. Males will mate with several females. Worse, they will attack females to force them to mate.
Unlike humans, whales are animals, and only humans were created to have an intimate relationship with their Creator.
I thank You, dear heavenly Father, for making those wondrous creatures – the whales. Help my life to show that I was truly made for an intimate relationship with You through the forgiveness of sins that has been earned for me through the innocent suffering and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Carpenter, Betsy, with Karen F. Schmidt. 1992. Whales. U.S. News & World Report, July 13. p. 58.
Matthew 6:27-29
"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
If you wake up when it's still dark, you know how overwhelming it can be to turn on the light. Your eyes may even hurt at first. If you've had this experience, you can understand one of the problems that had to be solved when radar was developed.
Basically, radar is made up of two parts. The transmitter sends out a powerful beam of radar waves. But the other part of the radar system is a very sensitive receiver that cannot stand the powerful outgoing signal. One of the major technical problems to be overcome in developing modern radar involved sending out this powerful signal without overwhelming the sensitive receiver. What scientists finally developed was a fast switch that turns the sensitive receiver off every time a radar pulse is sent out.
Bats, who have their own sonic radar, had this problem solved from the beginning. They have muscles in their ears that are the receivers for the echoes. These muscles close the ears for split seconds when the bats are sending out their high pitched signals.
Without this feature, the bat's navigational system would be useless. How could a bat figure out that it needed this ability and then decide to grow the muscles and related tissue to do the job? When one decides to say that creatures, instead of the Creator, have made themselves, one can end up with some very silly conclusions!
Dear Father, You have made all things well and with the good of the creation in mind. Help me to remember this when I tend to think of Your Word as separated from the realities of everyday life, thereby missing out on so many of the blessings You have prepared for me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Henson, O.W. 1971. Journal of Physiology, v. 180. p. 871.
AIRBORNE SNAKES
James 4:7
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
One of the things the Hawaiian Islands have been famous for is that they have no snakes. But although there are no friends or relatives for them to visit, increasing numbers of brown tree snakes are catching the next plane to Hawaii.
The snake is native to the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Thirty years ago, Guam had no snakes either. Now there are up to 30,000 of the slightly venomous snakes per square mile. They were probably inadvertently carried to Guam by military transport planes. Guam's birds had never seen snakes before and had no natural fear of them. Since brown tree snakes are excellent climbers, most of Guam's bird species were wiped out.
The snakes' love of climbing seems to be their ticket to the Hawaiian Islands. They climb airplane landing gears and make the trip in cargo holds or wheel wells. Two snakes were recently discovered on a runway in Oahu on the same day. One died, but the other was still alive when found. Authorities are worried about more than what the presence of snakes might do to tourism. Hawaii's beautiful tropical birds would be easy pickings for the snakes, just as were the birds in Guam. Experimental snake barriers are now being devised for use at island airports.
God protects His creatures by giving them the ability to recognize their enemies. We need to recognize the disguises of our enemies, too. Our greatest enemy, Satan, has been vanquished by the Son of God, Who took the form of a man for our salvation.
Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that You have told us of the forgiveness of sins that has been won for us by Your Son, Jesus Christ. You have also taught us how to recognize our enemy in Your Word and taught us how to flee him. Amen.
Yoon, Carol Kaesuk. 1992. "Hawaii's military, civilian leaders fear brown tree snake invasion." Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 19. p. 19A.
THE NOT-SO-GENTLE WHALE
Genesis 1:26
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
Like dinosaurs, whales are huge and wondrous creatures whose sheer size and majesty glorify the Creator. Some whales are even larger than were any of the dinosaurs.
Whales were hunted for generations for processing into a variety of products. It was not until they were hunted to near extinction that governments began to work to prevent this from happening. Much of the hunting was justified on the grounds that whales were ruthless killers. After that perception of whales was proven wrong, the pendulum swung the other way. As a result, the public – and even many scientists – began to romanticize whales. They were presented to the public as gentle, benevolent giants. It became stylish to talk about the whale as an intelligent creature, rivaling and perhaps surpassing humans. Now more objective research into whale behavior shows that whales, while magnificent creatures, are nothing more than wild animals.
Researchers have learned that while whales can be gentle, they can also be terribly violent. They have documented males in vicious battles for the attentions of females. Sometimes as many as 10 males will be involved in a free-for-all. Their fighting tactics include ramming each other at full force with their 40-ton bodies. Whales are not very loyal, either. Males will mate with several females. Worse, they will attack females to force them to mate.
Unlike humans, whales are animals, and only humans were created to have an intimate relationship with their Creator.
I thank You, dear heavenly Father, for making those wondrous creatures – the whales. Help my life to show that I was truly made for an intimate relationship with You through the forgiveness of sins that has been earned for me through the innocent suffering and death of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Carpenter, Betsy, with Karen F. Schmidt. 1992. Whales. U.S. News & World Report, July 13. p. 58.
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