“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11.
There are so many kinds of saltwater, freshwater and land crabs that it would take many books to write about all of them. All have flat bodies, eyes at the end of stalks, and five pairs of legs covered with jointed shells. The two front legs are usually equipped with toothed pincers. Those that swim have flattened hind legs that work like paddles. Let’s consider just a few of them.
Hermit crabs, using empty shells of all kinds for their homes, sometimes carry poisonous sea anemones on their backs as protection from enemies. The anemone shares the crab’s food by reaching its tentacles into the crab’s mouth when it is feeding. Its poison normally would kill the crab, but when they live together it does not harm the crab. Isn’t that amazing? Only God could make this possible!
In somewhat the same way the cowboy crab of Hawaii carries an anemone in each of its two front claws to frighten its enemies and often joins the anemones in eating the food killed by their poison.
One called the sponge crab cuts out a piece of sponge just the right size and places it over its back as a disguise, using a special pair of legs given to it for this clever trick. Mole crabs bury themselves in the sand, leaving only their mouth parts and eye stalks exposed. Large numbers of them live together, getting food this way from outgoing waves.
Ghost crabs, sandy-colored to blend with the seashore, live in burrows on the beach. Leaving their homes at night to explore for food, they scurry back at dawn. Retiring for the day, they close the opening behind them so cleverly that no one would guess it was there. During the summer they store food for use when going underground in the fall, not to appear again until springtime, dressed in new suits.
Land crabs in the Samoan Islands live among rocks in the hills. Every October and November, exactly four days before the last quarter of the new moon, they travel down to the ocean in great numbers. Instead of going around rocks, tree stumps and even houses, they maintain a straight march, crawling right over them.
Many more of equal interest could be considered if space were available. Do you think the Lord, their Creator, cares about them? We know He does for the Bible tells us “all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist [are provided for].” Colossians 1:16,17.
We, too, have been created by Him, and His care and love are over us at all times. He invites us to learn about Himself through His Holy Word, the Bible, and accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Saviour. Have you obeyed the Bible verse that says, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth"? Ecclesiastes 12:1.
ML-10/07/1984