No other bird goes so far into the harsh Antarctic area as the penguin, and God has provided everything it needs. To insulate its body against the fierce cold, it has a complete covering of short feathers that extend down to its webbed feet. It gets all its food from the ocean and can also drink the salt water.
The emperor penguin is the largest of the penguin family—about three to four feet tall. All penguins have wings, but they cannot fly. Instead, their wings are used as flippers to swim extremely fast under water. Special muscles give these wings great strength.
The emperor penguin does not build a nest. About a month after arriving on the ice barrier, a pair has a family of just one chick. Before the female lays the single egg, she goes several weeks without eating. Then about the middle of May the egg is laid. She turns its care over to the male and then dives into the ocean to feed, and she is gone for some weeks. As this is really the beginning of winter in the Antarctic, the male has a difficult problem since there is no nest for the egg.
The Creator has provided a way to keep the egg warm. The male stands with his feet close together and rolls the egg on top of them. With the egg securely in place, “papa” pulls a soft pouch of skin down over it, making it snug and warm. He stands in this position—never moving or going for food or water—for two months!
Here is something else amazing. Although “mama” has been away all this time, on the exact day the chick hatches she comes out of the ocean, her belly big and round from gorging on seafood. There are thousands of penguins that look just like her mate, but she goes right to him. Then she takes over, putting her beak in the newly hatched chick’s mouth and feeding it from her full belly. She does this until it can take care of itself. Meanwhile, the skinny male takes to the water to find the food he needs.
Shortly after the chick is fully grown, it joins others on ice floes, and the currents carry them north several hundred miles to the New Zealand area or to the tip of South America. The next May they repeat the cycle all over again.
We know that when the Lord God created the penguin, He made it exactly as it is now, so it could thrive in that part of the earth. “Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth [and] in the seas” (Psalm 135:66Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. (Psalm 135:6)).
Do you know the One who is your Creator and wants to be your Saviour as well? That is the most important question.
ML-01/06/2013