There are 3500 species of the cockroach, about a dozen of which are in the United States and Canada. They can be found in the kitchens, bathrooms and cupboards of rich and poor alike and also in restaurants, grocery stores and food storage places. The largest is 4 inches long and the smallest is 1/8 of an inch long and lives in the tropics. They dislike bright light and usually come out only at night. You might catch a glimpse of them as they scurry to hide when a light is turned on.
Cockroaches, closely related to grasshoppers and crickets, are mostly black or brown. These unpleasant pests are well equipped for survival. Their strong legs are covered with bristles, and their jaws have sharp cutting blades capable of handling tough items, including food scraps, paper, cloth, glue, soap, leather and even electric cords. Before feeding they use their antennae and special feelers to “inspect” the food to determine if it is safe to eat. Through this “inspection” they sometimes avoid poisons intended for them. Spraying with insecticide in their concealed hideouts does not do much good either. The pressure-sensitive hairs on their bodies also inform them when danger is near, sending them running away in a fraction of a second. Even their endurance is remarkable. Tests have shown they can survive a month without water and three months without food! No wonder they are hard to get rid of!
Preferring warm, dirty, damp places, they are frequently surrounded by filth which they eat and which clings to their legs. Transporting them to other places when they hide in paper bags and cartons, they often carry disease. However, they are industrious in grooming themselves by brushing their bodies with their legs.
We are not told why the Creator included the cockroach when He brought so many insects into the world. Perhaps one purpose is to impress on us that the world has been spoiled by sin and to remind us of Satan who also “grooms” himself to appear sometimes as “an angel of light.” But in spite of this deceit, the devil is man’s worst enemy.
The Apostle Paul was aware of Satan’s evil activity and that those who do not turn away from his influence will, in a coming time, be under God’s solemn judgment. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me [out of this body of death]?” he cried. Finding the answer, he happily responded, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24-2524O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:24‑25)). Have you also accepted Christ as your Saviour so that you can now give thanks unto the Father “who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:1313Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13))?
ML-01/09/2000