One Smelly Amoeba

Job 9:25-26
“Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good. They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.”

Not all dangerous predators can be seen. One of the most dangerous predators in a drop of pond water is Amoeba proteus. This amoeba literally terrorizes its one celled pond mates because they can smell him coming to engulf them. Among his favorite snacks are one celled creatures of the genus Euplotes. But Euplotes can defend themselves. When some members of this genus smell the amoeba coming, they dart away to safety. Others can grow pikes to defend themselves. Some can even grow hard shells to protect themselves.
    
This scenario leaves a problem for evolution. What benefit to a predator is there in warning its prey? Evolution should have selected against the amoeba’s ability to produce its unique scent, called the A factor. Now a new discovery has revealed the amoeba’s scent is really a clever design, pointing to a Designer. These amoebas reproduce by splitting, so they are surrounded by clones. The A factor is just strong enough to allow the proteus to identify clone mates so that they don’t eat each other, but not so strong that it prevents proteus from getting enough to eat.
    
God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from another unseen predator – the devil. The evil in the world is the warning scent of the devil’s presence. God has placed many evidences within the creation that He is the Creator so that as our relatively few days on this earth flee by, we will be drawn to His Son. Believing in Him, we will receive forgiveness and salvation from sin, death and the devil.

Prayer:
We thank You, dear Father, that in Your love, You sent Your Son to save me from sin, death and the devil. Amen.

Notes:
S. Milius, “Amoeba betrayed by anticannibal defense,” Science News, March 20, 1999, v. 155, p. 182. Image: Amoeba proteus.