Seeing Heat, Tasting Smells

1 Corinthians 13:12
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

The rattlesnake has little pits in its face, under its eyes. Amazingly, these pits are a second pair of eyes that actually see what eyes cannot see! Researchers have learned that there is a membrane stretched over the back of each pit, a thousandth of an inch thick, which is crammed with sensors which pick up the infrared radiation, or heat, given off by all warm-blooded creatures. These sensors are hooked up to a second vision center in the brain so that the rattlesnake can see an image of its warm-blooded victim even in complete darkness.

When a snake flicks its tongue out, it is smelling you. Its tongue picks up scent molecules in the air, then rubs the molecules off on a sense organ in the roof of its mouth. This provides it with a scent of whatever the molecules came from. You may be amazed to learn that human beings are equipped with the same organ before birth!

There is so much of reality to sense, and our ability to sense it all is very small. This is why it is nothing but human pride to say that if we have not seen something for ourselves, it cannot exist. But the faith that God gives allows us to see His workings which are usually otherwise invisible to us.

Let God’s Word sharpen your senses.

Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, help me to have more clear sight so that I can see, by the faith You provide, those things that I would not otherwise know about. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
Photo: Forked tongue of a Carpet Python. Courtesy of LiquidGhoul. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.