Daily Devotional - January 17

Biology

How do fish swim in murky water or schools without running into each other? It’s the fish’s lateral line. On either side of the fish, running from the gills to the tail, is a line of small pores that are filled with hairs (neuromasts). These sensory hairs pick up very tiny vibrations and pressure changes traveling through the water and convert them to electrical impulses that are sent to the brain. With a line of many hair clusters (neuromasts) picking up information at different points on the lateral line, the fish has the ability to figure out what is happening around it.

Scientists have successfully copied the fish’s lateral line and hope to install them on submersibles and other underwater vehicles. These scientists used great engineering skills to develop this new technology. It would be an insult to their intelligence to say their artificial lateral line happened by accident and chance. Then why would we say the fish’s lateral line happened by accident and chance? It was created by the Great Engineer Himself, God. So the next time you pick up a fish, look for the lateral line (on some fish it is hard to see) and praise the Great Engineer for His great design.

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

~ Job 12:8-9

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett