Daily Devotional - January 24

Biology

Have you considered how a one-humped dromedary camel survives a harsh, hot, dry climate? The camel’s hump is like a fatty backpack - not a hollow water storage reservoir. This fat is actually food stored for

later use. When food is not available, nourishment is provided by the stored fat in the hump. When nourishment is taken out of the hump and not replenished over a long period of time, the hump actually shrinks and flops over. When food becomes more plentiful, the hump swells to become a fatty backpack again.

Most mammals distribute fat all over their bodies (including humans – much to our displeasure)! However, fat is a great insulator, and if camels stored fat all over their bodies, the heat would be held in - not a desirable design in extremely hot desert climates. A camel’s design allows it to store energy for future use without becoming overheated. In addition, the design of the camel’s hump protects the vital organs below from the heat of the sun beating down on the topside of the camel. Dromedaries thrive in extremely hot, dry climates because of this ingenious fat storage design. How would a camel know it needed to store the fat in one place and not over all its body? How would it get all its fat cells together in one place in its hump? Dromedaries are wonderfully designed to live in hot, dry deserts, and their hump is just one of many parts which testify to the genius of their Creator.

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee:  he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

~ Psalm 55:22

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