Is It Plant or Animal?

Psalm 93:5
“Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.”

As we learn more about God’s creation, we find that a number of things we learned in school aren’t really true, and never were. We learned in school that plants are plants and animals are animals, and there are always distinct differences between them. We also learned that complex things like eyes are found only in higher, more evolved creatures.

Dinoflagellates are considered by biologists to be among the simplest forms of cellular life. Yet these amazing creatures are far from simple. Both zoologists, who study animals, and botanists, who study plants, claim that dinoflagellates belong to their area of study. In other words, scientists can’t even figure out whether they are plants or animals. Many dinoflagellates – even though they are but a single cell – have a sense organ like an eye.

Some dinoflagellates cause the deadly red tide that often kills fish. Others give off a red dye during the daytime that is harmless, and by night they produce brilliant displays of phosphorescence. Many have a whip-like appendage for swimming.

While they are small, even these so-called simplest forms of one-celled life are by no means simple. Man’s word, even in matters of science, can never be as sure as God’s Word about the fact that He made all things. As God’s Word says, every creature was created in finished form.

Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that Your Word can be trusted. Help me to see more clearly how man’s word, no matter how sincere, can never be as sure and certain as Your Word. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:

The Facts on File Dictionary of Botany, (Market House Books Limited, 1984), p. 106; and Signet Science Library Book, (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1963), p. 216. Photo: Ceratium furca dinoflagellate. Courtesy of Minami Himemiya. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.