NOT SO BIRD-BRAINED
Genesis 1:21
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
Beautiful feathers worn by birds are a gift of the Creator, but it takes a lot of work on the part of the birds to keep their feathers beautiful. Nevertheless, the Lord has provided birds with ways to keep their feathers healthy and beautiful.
We have all seen birds preening and, while this may look a bit vain, they are really going about a very serious business. For example, birds of the heron family accumulate a coating of pond-slime on their feathers. To clean this, they have three patches of special feathers that break down into a kind of powder. These birds apply the powder to their feathers and, after the slime has been absorbed, they comb it out, using a special toe shaped like a comb. Many birds have an oil gland near their tail and oil their feathers after cleaning to waterproof them.
Most birds pick up parasites, and they work at getting rid of them. For example, some will sit near an ant nest to let the ants release their formic acid that drives off mites and other pests.
God has not only provided birds with beautiful feathers, He has also given them everything they require to keep their feathers beautiful and healthy. Doesn't it seem reasonable that He will also provide for us when we sincerely lay our concerns before Him?
Dear Father in heaven, help me to know that You have provided for all my needs. Help me to trust You more completely for everything. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Tricolored heron. Courtesy of Chris Harshaw. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Genesis 1:21
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
Beautiful feathers worn by birds are a gift of the Creator, but it takes a lot of work on the part of the birds to keep their feathers beautiful. Nevertheless, the Lord has provided birds with ways to keep their feathers healthy and beautiful.
We have all seen birds preening and, while this may look a bit vain, they are really going about a very serious business. For example, birds of the heron family accumulate a coating of pond-slime on their feathers. To clean this, they have three patches of special feathers that break down into a kind of powder. These birds apply the powder to their feathers and, after the slime has been absorbed, they comb it out, using a special toe shaped like a comb. Many birds have an oil gland near their tail and oil their feathers after cleaning to waterproof them.
Most birds pick up parasites, and they work at getting rid of them. For example, some will sit near an ant nest to let the ants release their formic acid that drives off mites and other pests.
God has not only provided birds with beautiful feathers, He has also given them everything they require to keep their feathers beautiful and healthy. Doesn't it seem reasonable that He will also provide for us when we sincerely lay our concerns before Him?
Dear Father in heaven, help me to know that You have provided for all my needs. Help me to trust You more completely for everything. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Tricolored heron. Courtesy of Chris Harshaw. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
IS THE SHARK A LIVING FOSSIL?
Job 12:7-8
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee."
There are over 350 species of shark. These remarkable creatures range from about the size of a shrimp to the whale shark that can be over 60 feet long. Most people view sharks as an ancient form of primitive fish, often because they are popularly presented to the public as a so-called "living fossil."
The truth is, sharks are not primitive or simple. In fact, scientists who classify living things are uncomfortable classifying sharks as fish, preferring instead to call them "fish-like vertebrates." Unlike all other fish, the shark has no skeleton. In fact, the shark's skin serves as the anchor for its muscles just as bones serve for anchors in other animals. Unlike fish, sharks have no gill coverings and even have a placenta very much like mammals!
Sharks are also much more complex than fish. They have sophisticated sense organs, their brains are much larger compared to body weight than fish, and they can learn a route through a maze as well as laboratory rabbits. Sharks are also socially complex, and they communicate with each other in a variety of ways.
Among the many kinds of creatures God has created using His unlimited imagination, it appears that He followed some similar themes in each kind. This offers us a better principle than does evolution for classifying living things, which arranges them from simple to complex.
Dear Father, I stand in awe at the ways in which Your unbridled creative imagination is expressed in the living world. Help me to be a better witness of this fact to the world around me, which is taken with the imaginations of its own heart. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Grey reef shark. Courtesy of Fbattail. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Job 12:7-8
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee."
There are over 350 species of shark. These remarkable creatures range from about the size of a shrimp to the whale shark that can be over 60 feet long. Most people view sharks as an ancient form of primitive fish, often because they are popularly presented to the public as a so-called "living fossil."
The truth is, sharks are not primitive or simple. In fact, scientists who classify living things are uncomfortable classifying sharks as fish, preferring instead to call them "fish-like vertebrates." Unlike all other fish, the shark has no skeleton. In fact, the shark's skin serves as the anchor for its muscles just as bones serve for anchors in other animals. Unlike fish, sharks have no gill coverings and even have a placenta very much like mammals!
Sharks are also much more complex than fish. They have sophisticated sense organs, their brains are much larger compared to body weight than fish, and they can learn a route through a maze as well as laboratory rabbits. Sharks are also socially complex, and they communicate with each other in a variety of ways.
Among the many kinds of creatures God has created using His unlimited imagination, it appears that He followed some similar themes in each kind. This offers us a better principle than does evolution for classifying living things, which arranges them from simple to complex.
Dear Father, I stand in awe at the ways in which Your unbridled creative imagination is expressed in the living world. Help me to be a better witness of this fact to the world around me, which is taken with the imaginations of its own heart. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Grey reef shark. Courtesy of Fbattail. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
COULD YOU SPEND WINTER OUTSIDE?
Psalm 104:27-28
"These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good."
Popular science magazines and school textbooks have, for more than a century now, repeated the theme that mankind evolved from the animal kingdom. Have you ever stopped to think what this means?
Those of us who live where the winters are very cold know fully well that human beings could not survive outside as the animals do. We need the protection of clothes and shelter, but the Creator has provided for the winter needs of the animal kingdom. Dogs for example, if living outside, develop a thicker coat in winter. Does human body hair become thicker under cold conditions? Not at all.
Many animals store fat to carry them through the winter, and their metabolic rate slows down so that they require less food. The fat they store and their metabolism are carefully coordinated and are often very different even between males and females of the same species. The bottom line is that the animals survive the winter and finish up in the springtime looking sleek and trim. Just the reverse usually happens in the case of man. We tend to eat more in winter, and in springtime often have the waistline to show for it!
If human beings had evolved from the animals, we would expect a much greater similarity between how animals and humans cope with winter. No, human beings never have been part of the animal kingdom.
Dear Father, You care and provide for all Your creatures. Grant seasonable weather this winter for the good of the Earth and all living things as well as for the productivity of the soil next growing season. Amen.
Photo: Polar bear. Courtesy of Christopher Holden. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Psalm 104:27-28
"These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good."
Popular science magazines and school textbooks have, for more than a century now, repeated the theme that mankind evolved from the animal kingdom. Have you ever stopped to think what this means?
Those of us who live where the winters are very cold know fully well that human beings could not survive outside as the animals do. We need the protection of clothes and shelter, but the Creator has provided for the winter needs of the animal kingdom. Dogs for example, if living outside, develop a thicker coat in winter. Does human body hair become thicker under cold conditions? Not at all.
Many animals store fat to carry them through the winter, and their metabolic rate slows down so that they require less food. The fat they store and their metabolism are carefully coordinated and are often very different even between males and females of the same species. The bottom line is that the animals survive the winter and finish up in the springtime looking sleek and trim. Just the reverse usually happens in the case of man. We tend to eat more in winter, and in springtime often have the waistline to show for it!
If human beings had evolved from the animals, we would expect a much greater similarity between how animals and humans cope with winter. No, human beings never have been part of the animal kingdom.
Dear Father, You care and provide for all Your creatures. Grant seasonable weather this winter for the good of the Earth and all living things as well as for the productivity of the soil next growing season. Amen.
Photo: Polar bear. Courtesy of Christopher Holden. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
THE WEAVERBIRD
Genesis 1:28
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
Intelligence - as much as is needed and no more - is widely found throughout God's creation. So intelligence alone is not what makes man special.
Consider the weaverbird. The nest of the weaverbird is woven of strips of fiber and grass. Using beak and feet, the male uses loops and knots to weave its hanging nest. Then, the nest is inspected by a prospective mate. If she doesn't like the nest's construction, she turns down the hopeful male. The male then rebuilds the entire nest. Some males have been seen re-building their nest two dozen times before being accepted by a prospective mate. Certain weaverbirds actually build cities of nests protected by a woven roof. One roof was 15 feet across! Now, all this requires a certain level of intelligence.
So it is not intelligence that sets man apart from the animal kingdom. No, it is the fact that our Creator made us to have a special relationship with Him. Even though we are a pretty bad lot, God loved mankind so much that He chose to die as Jesus on the cross that we may be forgiven. Anyone who has accepted Christ in faith has the promise of being made a new creation, beginning right here in this life and into eternal life in the next! That's the wide gulf between man and animal!
Dear Father, I thank You that You have given me being and life, and that when I was lost in sin, You still sought me out with Your gospel. Help me to truly live as Your new creation in Christ. For His sake. Amen.
Photo: Weaverbird and its nest in northern India. Courtesy of Ashish Aitian. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Genesis 1:28
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
Intelligence - as much as is needed and no more - is widely found throughout God's creation. So intelligence alone is not what makes man special.
Consider the weaverbird. The nest of the weaverbird is woven of strips of fiber and grass. Using beak and feet, the male uses loops and knots to weave its hanging nest. Then, the nest is inspected by a prospective mate. If she doesn't like the nest's construction, she turns down the hopeful male. The male then rebuilds the entire nest. Some males have been seen re-building their nest two dozen times before being accepted by a prospective mate. Certain weaverbirds actually build cities of nests protected by a woven roof. One roof was 15 feet across! Now, all this requires a certain level of intelligence.
So it is not intelligence that sets man apart from the animal kingdom. No, it is the fact that our Creator made us to have a special relationship with Him. Even though we are a pretty bad lot, God loved mankind so much that He chose to die as Jesus on the cross that we may be forgiven. Anyone who has accepted Christ in faith has the promise of being made a new creation, beginning right here in this life and into eternal life in the next! That's the wide gulf between man and animal!
Dear Father, I thank You that You have given me being and life, and that when I was lost in sin, You still sought me out with Your gospel. Help me to truly live as Your new creation in Christ. For His sake. Amen.
Photo: Weaverbird and its nest in northern India. Courtesy of Ashish Aitian. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
CHOCOLATE CHILI?
Genesis 1:29
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."
It has been written against, outlawed, and is the original "food of the gods." Modern science is finding that chocolate seems to offer some positive health benefits.
When Cortéz and his soldiers came to the New World, Montezuma offered them his people's favorite hot chocolate. But Montezuma's people didn't add sugar to the chocolate. Instead, they added ground-up hot peppers. This was real hot chocolate! The Spanish thought it was terrible stuff. Luckily for chocolate lovers, they did take some of the beans back to Europe. There it dawned on someone to leave out the peppers and add sugar instead. By the eighteenth-century, chocolate houses had become so popular that brewers of alcoholic beverages demanded legal restrictions against chocolate because it was ruining their business.
Today, Americans eat an average of 10 pounds of chocolate per person per year. Chocolate also contains a mild anti-depressant as well as theobromine, a unique substance that perks you up and calms you down at the same time. And contrary to popular thought, chocolate is not addicting.
While chocolate may seem a trivial subject, it has given those who like it a lot of enjoyment. It is one of those gifts God has given us that makes life a little more enjoyable - but is totally unnecessary. And this offers us a lesson about His gracious thoughts toward man.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, You made all that is. I thank You that You have made some things which we don't require, but which cause us to rejoice in Your generosity. Help me never to misuse Your good gifts. Amen.
Photo: A Mayan chief forbids a person to touch a jar of chocolate.
Genesis 1:29
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."
It has been written against, outlawed, and is the original "food of the gods." Modern science is finding that chocolate seems to offer some positive health benefits.
When Cortéz and his soldiers came to the New World, Montezuma offered them his people's favorite hot chocolate. But Montezuma's people didn't add sugar to the chocolate. Instead, they added ground-up hot peppers. This was real hot chocolate! The Spanish thought it was terrible stuff. Luckily for chocolate lovers, they did take some of the beans back to Europe. There it dawned on someone to leave out the peppers and add sugar instead. By the eighteenth-century, chocolate houses had become so popular that brewers of alcoholic beverages demanded legal restrictions against chocolate because it was ruining their business.
Today, Americans eat an average of 10 pounds of chocolate per person per year. Chocolate also contains a mild anti-depressant as well as theobromine, a unique substance that perks you up and calms you down at the same time. And contrary to popular thought, chocolate is not addicting.
While chocolate may seem a trivial subject, it has given those who like it a lot of enjoyment. It is one of those gifts God has given us that makes life a little more enjoyable - but is totally unnecessary. And this offers us a lesson about His gracious thoughts toward man.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, You made all that is. I thank You that You have made some things which we don't require, but which cause us to rejoice in Your generosity. Help me never to misuse Your good gifts. Amen.
Photo: A Mayan chief forbids a person to touch a jar of chocolate.
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