Designed to Eat

Job 36:5
“Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom.”

The shark seems to have been designed for one purpose and one purpose only – to eat!

Up to two-thirds of the shark’s brain is devoted to its excellent sense of smell that enables it to find food. In its mouth are many rows of sharp teeth, and when one set wears out, another set behind it moves forward as if on a conveyor belt. And speaking of teeth, did you know that sharks are literally covered with thousands, if not millions, of teeth? That’s right – sharks don’t have scales or a leathery hide. Called dermal denticles, these are true teeth that are covered with dentine and have a central pulp canal. Meshed closely together as they are, they provide the shark with a strong armor.

The shark’s stomach is very large and has an unusual spiral valve so that more nutrients can be absorbed in less space. But more remarkable is that they seem to be able to eat anything. The contents of one large shark’s stomach included three overcoats, a raincoat, a driver’s license, one cow’s hoof, deer antlers, twelve lobsters, and a chicken coop with feathers and bones inside!

The awesome shark stands as another example of God’s limitless creativity. Nevertheless, it is certainly a fearsome creature, and I, for one, am glad that God did not create us to live in the same environment.

Prayer:
Dear Father, there are indeed many dangers to us in the creation; they often distract me from seeing that You are in charge and can do anything. Renew my vision and my faith. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
Photo: Teeth of tiger sharks are serrated to saw through flesh. Courtesy of Stefan Kühn. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.