“He hath made everything beautiful in his time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Most of us do not think of snails as being beautiful but only as pests in our gardens. It is true that many things in God’s creation are outwardly unattractive to us, but God sees an inward beauty in them, sometimes visible to us only under a microscope.
Even the common garden snail has a rather pretty spiral house on its back. The outside of its shell is skin-like, the middle is much thicker, and the inside is coated with a thin, smooth, shiny surface. This shell has been designed by the Creator to provide a safe, comfortable home.
Among the thousands of kinds of snails in the world, some live on land, some in water, and many spend their lives in trees. A number have very beautiful, valuable shells. These include shells from some marine species with beautiful knobs, ridges and spirals. Among these beauties are the cowrie and olive varieties, which are common in southern waters. Hawaii and other Pacific islands have many tree snails with very pretty markings.
When the common garden snail hatches from its underground egg, it is fully formed, complete with a tiny shell. It must immediately find food. Although it has poor eyesight, the Creator gave it a keen sense of smell by which it finds what it needs. Its tiny tongue, which is covered with thousands of little hooks and sharp teeth, makes quick work of destroying tender plants and flowers—one reason why gardeners find them to be a real pest.
Another objection to snails is that they leave sticky trails behind them. This trail, made by mucus from glands in a snail’s body, makes a soft, elastic cushion that is moist and so tough that it can crawl over the sharp edge of a razor blade and not be cut! This cushion has been supplied by the Creator to protect the soft underside of the snail from the dry, rough surfaces it crawls over.
But not everything about snails is objectionable. Some people consider certain kinds to be very good food. The shells of brightly colored snails are made into jewelry, buttons and other decorative objects. Also, there is one snail called the decollete that, instead of eating plants, kills and eats garden snails. This one is a real friend to gardeners.
Can it be that the Lord God cares about little creatures like snails? Yes He does, for the Bible tells us that “the Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9).
But more than this, He has a special care for each person who has accepted the Lord Jesus as his very own Lord and Saviour and has trusted in His work on Calvary’s cross to take away his sins. Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (John 10:27-28). Is He your Good Shepherd?
ML-01/02/2011