Thursday, October 20, 2011

""But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you." Job 12:7


Truly, I am not a fan or fancier of snakes.    Honest, I'm not! 

However, I am extremely fascinated by all of God's creation...including snakes. They are a mystery to me. How they move without legs!!!

Proverbs 30 says in verses 18 and 19:

"There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
         Four which I do not understand:
The way of an eagle in the sky,
         The way of a serpent on a rock,
         The way of a ship in the middle of the sea,
         And the way of a man with a maid"
Everywhere I look, I am mystified by God's creative handiwork. I am in awe of His infinite variety of species and sub-species. I am intrigued by the diversity, adaptation, survival techniques, camouflage, instincts, migration...the list goes on and on and on!
Okay, confession time: I was determined to be an environmental biologist, once upon a time.
But, aren't we all to some extent?  God has asked us to be good stewards of His creation:
Genesis 1:26 " Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.""
All of nature, human nature included, absolutely intrigues me. Even the snakes. I make no apology. Psalm 8 summarizes well my faith and philosophy in this regard:

O LORD, our Lord,
         How majestic is Your name in all the earth,

         Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
         
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
         
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
         
And the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
 And You crown him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
         
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen,
 And also the beasts of the field,
The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
         
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
         
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Observing something as simple and slithery as a lowly snake causes me to worship Him, 
the Creator of all.

Romans 1:20 " For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."