Big-Hearted Snakes

1 Kings 4:29
“And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.”

Burmese pythons have been described as “your basic couch-potato hunter.” Most of the time they are not very active and don’t need to eat for weeks or even months. But when the need to eat arises, they can eat whole wild pigs or any animal that weighs as much as the python does.

Large pythons will eat an entire wild pig at one time. Scientists have long recognized that digesting such a large animal is quite an athletic workout. Its metabolism increases as much as 40 times faster than normal while it is digesting the animal. Amazingly, two days after eating, its heart has increased in volume by 40 percent to handle the extra workload. Research shows that this increase is additional muscle mass. The snake does this by making a specific messenger RNA that makes heart muscle fiber. When the snake is not eating, this RNA returns to normal levels. The python will take about 14 days to digest a large animal, after which its heart and metabolism return to normal.

Obviously, the python knows nothing about RNA, metabolism or even its own heart. Scripture describes Solomon’s wisdom as “largeness of heart,” which refers to a broad understanding of how things work. Clearly, the python’s large heart is the work of our Creator, Who is the source of all wisdom and understanding.

Prayer:
Father, I marvel at Your wisdom in all things, and I ask that You would give me clear understanding. Amen.

Notes:
Science News, 3/5/05, p. 149, S. Milius, “Shortcut to Big Heart.”