A DANGEROUS WONDER
Matthew 10:16
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
The rattlesnake is one of the greater wonders of God’s creation. The eyes of the rattlesnake are different from all other back-boned animals. Rattlesnakes have no eyelids, but their eyes are protected by clear cover-plates. Their yellow lenses slide in and out like binoculars – and, like built-in binoculars, provide detailed magnification of distant objects.
The rattlesnake has many more ways of sensing its environment than we do. Its lower jaw is linked, through fine bones, to its inner ear. With this arrangement, if the rattlesnake places its lower jaw on the ground, it can hear distant footsteps – its jaw acting just like a stethoscope.
Rattlesnakes also adjust their venom dosage to the size of their prey. The larger the victim, the more venom needed – and the rattlesnake knows just how much to deliver. The truth is, about 20 percent of all rattlesnake bites inflicted on humans deliver no venom at all because we are too big for the snake to swallow. While the rattlesnake is dangerous, more people die from bee stings each year than rattlesnake bites.
The abilities of the rattlesnake certainly glorify God, Who designed this amazing creature. Realize that you, too, are fearfully and wonderfully made by the same Creator and that He has given you even more wonderful abilities to use in grateful service to Him.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have given me abilities that I can use to glorify You. Help me to better understand how I can glorify You more with my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo: Timber rattlesnake. Courtesy of Tad Arensmeier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Matthew 10:16
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
The rattlesnake is one of the greater wonders of God’s creation. The eyes of the rattlesnake are different from all other back-boned animals. Rattlesnakes have no eyelids, but their eyes are protected by clear cover-plates. Their yellow lenses slide in and out like binoculars – and, like built-in binoculars, provide detailed magnification of distant objects.
The rattlesnake has many more ways of sensing its environment than we do. Its lower jaw is linked, through fine bones, to its inner ear. With this arrangement, if the rattlesnake places its lower jaw on the ground, it can hear distant footsteps – its jaw acting just like a stethoscope.
Rattlesnakes also adjust their venom dosage to the size of their prey. The larger the victim, the more venom needed – and the rattlesnake knows just how much to deliver. The truth is, about 20 percent of all rattlesnake bites inflicted on humans deliver no venom at all because we are too big for the snake to swallow. While the rattlesnake is dangerous, more people die from bee stings each year than rattlesnake bites.
The abilities of the rattlesnake certainly glorify God, Who designed this amazing creature. Realize that you, too, are fearfully and wonderfully made by the same Creator and that He has given you even more wonderful abilities to use in grateful service to Him.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have given me abilities that I can use to glorify You. Help me to better understand how I can glorify You more with my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo: Timber rattlesnake. Courtesy of Tad Arensmeier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
OLDEST BUG IS MODERN
Genesis 1:24
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”
Did you know that the phrase “according to its kind” appears 10 times in the first chapter of Genesis? Not only is the fact that plants and animals reproduce according to their kind an important principle in the Bible, it is central to modern agriculture and husbandry. What’s more, there is no evidence in the fossil record that any creature ever existed that was in the process of changing from one kind into another. While many different kinds of plants and animals have become extinct, modern forms are found in the most ancient rocks.
This fact was highlighted for us again when scientists announced the discovery of a fossil bug which they said was 15 million years older than any insect ever found before. Of course, we know that those are highly inflated evolutionary years. But the discovery of the insect will lead evolutionists to revise their story of how insects evolved. And they are not just going to have to allow that bugs have been around for more of the earth’s history than they thought. The scientists also noted that the insect they found was remarkably like modern-day silverfish. In other words, insects were well-established long before evolutionists ever thought they had evolved!
This is just one more example of a scientific discovery clearly showing that every living thing reproduces after its own kind. Furthermore, those kinds have been the same since the beginning.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have given us Your sure Word, especially that I might know the truth of Jesus Christ which leads to salvation. In His Name. Amen.
Photo: Silverfish. Interestingly, the photo is labeled “Late Carboniferous to Recent” at Wikipedia, admitting that the silverfish has remained the same over “millions of years.” Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic license.
Genesis 1:24
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”
Did you know that the phrase “according to its kind” appears 10 times in the first chapter of Genesis? Not only is the fact that plants and animals reproduce according to their kind an important principle in the Bible, it is central to modern agriculture and husbandry. What’s more, there is no evidence in the fossil record that any creature ever existed that was in the process of changing from one kind into another. While many different kinds of plants and animals have become extinct, modern forms are found in the most ancient rocks.
This fact was highlighted for us again when scientists announced the discovery of a fossil bug which they said was 15 million years older than any insect ever found before. Of course, we know that those are highly inflated evolutionary years. But the discovery of the insect will lead evolutionists to revise their story of how insects evolved. And they are not just going to have to allow that bugs have been around for more of the earth’s history than they thought. The scientists also noted that the insect they found was remarkably like modern-day silverfish. In other words, insects were well-established long before evolutionists ever thought they had evolved!
This is just one more example of a scientific discovery clearly showing that every living thing reproduces after its own kind. Furthermore, those kinds have been the same since the beginning.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have given us Your sure Word, especially that I might know the truth of Jesus Christ which leads to salvation. In His Name. Amen.
Photo: Silverfish. Interestingly, the photo is labeled “Late Carboniferous to Recent” at Wikipedia, admitting that the silverfish has remained the same over “millions of years.” Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic license.
DIAMONDS IN THE SKY?
Matthew 6:19,21
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal... For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Imagine – countless tons of diamonds, virtually free for the taking. Such wealth is the stuff of legends. But now it might be for real. The only catch is that these diamonds, if they exist, are under an atmospheric pressure as high as six million times that on earth, and the temperature could be a more than a balmy 12,000 degrees (F). Those are the conditions thought to exist on the planets Uranus and Neptune. Scientists now believe, contrary to their earlier speculation, that simple molecules could not exist in normal forms on these planets. This put an end to speculation about life evolving on these planets. Great pressures, along with extreme heat, force all the carbon atoms to be compressed into diamonds.
Why would God create all those diamonds in a place where they don’t do anyone any good? The fact is, God knows that material wealth gives us very little. We human beings begin to realize this fact when we discover that all the wealth in the world is meaningless if no one loves or cares about us.
Our Creator is the only source of true wealth. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, He brings the riches of heaven to the poorest among us. He brings to His children peace that cannot be destroyed by the hottest war zone and gives life that never ends. You can learn more about these riches, which bring both temporal and eternal benefits, in the pages of the Bible.
Dear Father in heaven, teach me to place the correct value – Your value – on all things and then seek true value through Your instruction in Holy Scripture. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo: Photo of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. Could this featureless planet be covered in diamonds?
THE FRAGILE RATTLESNAKE
John 3:14
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up...”
The rattlesnake is a dangerous creature, but surprisingly vulnerable. Believe it or not, rodents, rather than being easy victims of the rattlesnake, are one of the rattlesnake’s greatest enemies. Ground squirrels will sometimes attack rattlers, lunging and biting them. Ground squirrels can inflict wounds that become infected and cause the snake’s death. They often get away with this because their reflexes are so much faster than the snake’s.
Those who handle rattlesnakes must be careful of their bite. But they must be equally careful about how they pick the snake up because its neck is easily broken. If a rattler is trapped for only 20 minutes in the noonday sun, it can go into convulsions. And if it is placed on ground with too steep an incline, its heart, unable to pump uphill, may fail. In fact, simply handling a rattler may cause it to starve itself to death.
Scripture refers to the devil as the “serpent” many times. However, just as the rattlesnake is deadly yet vulnerable, so too is the devil – truly deadly, yet vulnerable. All who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior from sin, death and the devil have that victory through Christ, even though the devil would like us to forget that he is a beaten foe.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You that through Your innocent suffering and death You have delivered me from sin, death and the devil. While I know that in this life I will still have to contend with the devil, always keep me mindful of how You have beaten him for me. Amen.
Photo: By looking at it, you’d never imagine that a California ground squirrel can be a rattlesnake’s worst nightmare. Courtesy of Benefactor123. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
John 3:14
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up...”
The rattlesnake is a dangerous creature, but surprisingly vulnerable. Believe it or not, rodents, rather than being easy victims of the rattlesnake, are one of the rattlesnake’s greatest enemies. Ground squirrels will sometimes attack rattlers, lunging and biting them. Ground squirrels can inflict wounds that become infected and cause the snake’s death. They often get away with this because their reflexes are so much faster than the snake’s.
Those who handle rattlesnakes must be careful of their bite. But they must be equally careful about how they pick the snake up because its neck is easily broken. If a rattler is trapped for only 20 minutes in the noonday sun, it can go into convulsions. And if it is placed on ground with too steep an incline, its heart, unable to pump uphill, may fail. In fact, simply handling a rattler may cause it to starve itself to death.
Scripture refers to the devil as the “serpent” many times. However, just as the rattlesnake is deadly yet vulnerable, so too is the devil – truly deadly, yet vulnerable. All who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior from sin, death and the devil have that victory through Christ, even though the devil would like us to forget that he is a beaten foe.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You that through Your innocent suffering and death You have delivered me from sin, death and the devil. While I know that in this life I will still have to contend with the devil, always keep me mindful of how You have beaten him for me. Amen.
Photo: By looking at it, you’d never imagine that a California ground squirrel can be a rattlesnake’s worst nightmare. Courtesy of Benefactor123. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
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