Super Senses

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; noses they have, but they do not smell; they have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.” [Psalm 115:4-8]

The star-nosed mole is a weird and wonderful little creature that inhabits the low wetlands of eastern North America. Like other moles, it ekes out an existence by digging a network of narrow tunnels where it forages for insects, worms, and mollusks. Living in almost complete darkness, the star-nosed mole has poorly developed eyes and is virtually blind. To compensate, the Creator has given it a very sensitive starshaped nose. Its nose surface is surrounded by a star of 22 fleshy fingerlike “tendrils.” These pink whiskers are covered with 25,000 ultrasensitive receptors (six times more sensitive than the human hand). This makes the little mole’s ugly nose the most sensitive organ in the entire animal kingdom.

By rapidly scanning back and forth, the mole can essentially see with his nose, mapping his tunnels and finding food. And boy is it fast! This organ enables the star-nosed mole to decide whether something is edible with astonishing speed, a mere eight milliseconds, and then bring that object into the mouth to swallow in only 120 milliseconds. It can locate and consume eight separate prey items in less than two seconds!

In fact, the mole’s little brain processes the information at a speed that approaches the upper limit at which any nervous system is capable of functioning. This is why the star-nosed mole was recently entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s fastest forager! His amazing appendage even enables the mole to smell underwater, something previously thought impossible for mammals. The animals were filmed with high-speed cameras as they followed underwater scent trails that led to food. While foraging underwater they were found to exhale and inhale micro bubbles that contained odorant molecules.

Only a powerful and loving God can invest his creatures with such extraordinary senses. That’s why it doesn’t make any sense for people to worship idols with no senses. Senseless idols do nothing to help their worshipers, but God loves, forgives, and saves His followers.