The Wonders of God’s Creation
With about 40,000 species of spiders in the world, there is a wealth of interesting things to consider, but we will limit ourselves to just a few more.
Not all spiders spin webs. For instance, the one known as the Dune Wolf makes its home in a sand tunnel and comes out to catch its food on the ground. Then there is the Trap-Door Spider that builds a tunnel in the ground, cementing the walls with glue and lining them with silk to make a cozy home. Over the top, it makes a hinged door that opens and shuts as it comes and goes.
One of the most amazing is the Water Spider. It can walk or run on water and makes its home beneath the surface in a silken nest. Working from a twig or stem above the water, it first forms a bell-shaped, air-tight balloon from its silk. It takes this down into the water and anchors it solidly. The spider keeps a large air bubble trapped in the top of the balloon so that it can breathe while it catches underwater insects.
Another species, called the Fishing Spider, also gets its food from the water, but this one lives out in the open air. Although unable to swim, it, too, can walk on the water, because it has hairy patches on its legs that hold air and make it buoyant. It chases insects on the surface, and if it sees something interesting below, will dive down for it.
You might wonder how a spider could dive under water and not drown. The secret is that it doesn’t breathe through nostrils as we do, but takes in air through the lower part of its abdomen. When ready to dive, it traps a bubble of air under its hairy body, and with this it can breathe for a long time.
We would also expect the air bubble to cause the spider to float to the surface. It would, except that it dives directly to some solid object under the water and holds itself down with its legs. There it sits while waiting for a victim to swim by. It has been observed catching minnows, grabbing and piercing them with poison before taking them to the shore to eat.
In spite of their unpleasant appearance, spiders are very beneficial to mankind, disposing of many flies, mosquitoes and other harmful insects. They all tell of God’s wonderful plan in creation and the way He has provided, from the very beginning, for the individual needs of each one of them. These patterns have not changed since the day of their creation.
But more important than all this is what He says of you and me: “For I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” Isaiah 43:77Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. (Isaiah 43:7). Now, we cannot be to His glory unless we are His children through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you one who has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and are you now giving glory to Him, as He desires?
ML-07/12/1981