All kinds of natural litter collect on the ground in forests day and night. If it weren’t for busy crews of “janitors,” which the Creator provided long ago, this litter would have piled up so deeply that life on the earth would not be possible. Trees, plants and other vegetation could not withstand the pileup of tons of waste material smothering their roots. Animals, birds, fish and even humans, dependent on plants and trees for food, would starve. Their dead bodies would add just that much more waste material.
What is this crew of “janitors” and what part do they play in the Creator’s plan? One of them, quite visible to us, is the common earthworm (also called night crawler, fishworm or angleworm). Uncountable millions of them are constantly at work, eating their way through soil and returning to the surface again and again for leaves, grass and other litter they take into their burrows for disposal.
Earthworms are just part of the visible crew. Lizards, mice, squirrels and other small animals do their part, as well as beetles and limitless other insects, some visible and some invisible, all taking part in the endless job of breaking down the litter of fallen leaves, dead trees and decaying material. As they eat this, it passes through their digestive systems, becoming rich fertilizer that feeds the roots of existing vegetation as well as seeds just sprouting. Mushrooms and toadstools also have part in the process.
If we could weigh all the leaves that drop on one acre in one year, they would weigh over a ton! Interestingly, the leaves that fall to the ground in tropical rain forests would weigh three times that much! What becomes of all these when it’s time for new leaves to appear? Through the effects of sunshine, rain and snow, combined with the work of the “janitors,” it takes about two years for these to be changed into rich, soft soil. In evergreen forests of pine, fir and cedar, it takes nearly twice as long, but these become new soil in the same way.
When the Creator placed trees and vegetation on the earth on the third day of His new creation, He knew exactly what it would need, and in His wisdom all this “janitorial” force was created to handle it. This brings to mind the Bible verse, “Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made ... the earth, and all things that are therein ... and Thou preservest them all” (Nehemiah 9:66Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. (Nehemiah 9:6)).
Because of all these silent helpers, nothing is ever wasted in the wonderland of God’s creation, our marvelous earth. How wonderful that we can know Him not only as our Creator, but also as our loving Saviour. Do you know Him both ways?
ML-02/03/2013