Any swimmer who scrapes against a barnacle-covered rock or a dock piling knows how tightly barnacles are attached. Not only are they annoying, but they also can cause damage. There are over a thousand species of barnacles in the oceans fastened to rocks, pilings, driftwood, boat hulls and other objects. Even many living creatures, such as whales, dolphins, turtles, crabs and large fish cannot stop them from attaching to their sides, heads and backs. All operating ships in ocean waters find barnacles a pest and expense, requiring frequent scraping of their hulls if the ships are to operate well in the water. Barnacles will actually reduce the speed of ships by increasing the drag on the normally smooth hull.
The most common barnacles are cone shaped. One variety is called acorn shell, another is called the upright goose, and a third is called the rock barnacle. Most are very small, only about ⅛ inch wide, while some weigh as much as three pounds.
One barnacle can produce 10,000 eggs at a time. These move freely in the ocean for long periods of time, until they change to free-swimming larvae. And then after several molts, they make a final change into true barnacles. Once they find a suitable surface, they cement themselves firmly to it with self-made glue. Once the glue sets firmly, they are attached for life with a bond so tight that storms and waves will never move them, even after they die.
The hard, rough shells of barnacles, growing in layers year after year, are the protection their bodies need so as not to be eaten by fish. These also provide a shelter from the sun when they are exposed at low tide.
How would you like spending most of your life standing on your head and eating with your feet? That’s exactly how barnacles spend most of their lives. A barnacle catches food by waving six pairs of legs back and forth in the water from the open end of its shell. These legs strain out microscopic plants and animals, which the barnacle eats.
Does the Lord God care about barnacles? He certainly does. The Bible says, “Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places” (Psalm 135:66Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. (Psalm 135:6)). We may not understand why He made them, but we know that, as the Creator of all things, He has a purpose for them, and they are a pleasure to Him.
Remember that He also has made you and watches over you. Is He happy when He sees your life? The Bible tells us, “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:1212So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12)). Have you admitted to Him that you are a sinner and accepted His Son, the Lord Jesus, as your Saviour?
ML-07/28/2013