“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary [enemy] the devil, as a roaring lion, [walks] about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8-9.
The ocean-living Portuguese man-of-war is actually a deadly jellyfish. Its beautiful colors are deceptive. Its most visible part, called the crest, is usually a transparent pink, and its body is a bright blue, about eight to twelve inches across. Deadly tentacles (seen only underwater) trail as long as sixty feet below its body. These are covered with thousands of stinging cells containing poison almost as deadly as a rattlesnake’s.
The air-filled crest provides a sail and also helps keep it afloat. But if frightened, the crest deflates, and immediately the jellyfish drops below the surface. When the danger is past, it again pumps air into the crest, and it continues sailing, propelled by the wind.
Some varieties catch their prey by shooting out stinging harpoons, paralyzing the victim and then swallowing it. The more common ones, however, rely on fish bumping into a tentacle and being instantly poisoned by the stinging cells.
Many enemies do not bother the Portuguese man-of-war, but big loggerhead turtles are an exception. These turtles are not afraid to swim right into the tentacles, tearing off bites that they swallow without harm. The turtle does feel the stingers on the soft parts of its body, but it apparently considers the meal worth a little pain.
The man-of-war has an amazing companion that travels with it. A small fish, by the name of nomus, swims among the tentacles without being harmed, picking off scraps of food stuck to them. Swimming in and out of this den of poison, it tempts larger fish to chase it into the tentacle trap where they cannot escape. The relationship of these two unusual companions is another example of how the Creator often uses two dissimilar creatures to help one another.
Swimmers should stay away from these vicious creatures, for they can inflict serious and even fatal stings. Even if a beached man-of-war appears to be dead, avoid it, for its stinging tentacles are still dangerous.
This deadly resident of the sea reminds us of Satan, our great enemy! Just as the man-of-war appears attractive but conceals its deadly poison from view, the devil never tires of trying to deceive every person. The Bible warns us in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that he is capable of appearing as “an angel of light,” deceiving those who discover too late that they are caught in his deadly poison.
The Bible gives the safeguard against this enemy: “The fear [reverence and love] of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:27). Trust in Him at all times, and when Satan’s temptations come, ask the Lord Jesus to help you turn away from them. Only He can give you the strength to do so.
ML-11/13/2011