BUG-EATING PLANTS AS EVIDENCE OF GOD’S EXISTENCE

Presented by

Blake Brown

Scientists usually divide animals into two groups. First, there are some animals that eat plants. Second, there are other animals that eat meat. But have you ever heard of a meat-eating plant?! Believe it or not, such plants really do exist. In Asia there is a plant known as a “pitcher plant” that produces a juice like honey to attract insects. The plant is made up mainly of a long tube that is very slippery. When an insect lands on the rim of the plant and leans over to drink the sweet juice inside the tube, the insect loses its footing and falls into the part of the plant that looks like the spout of a water pitcher. This, of course, is how the plant got its name. At the bottom of the long tube there is a strong liquid that drowns the insect and begins to digest it so the plant can eat it. It is strange to think of a plant that can eat insects!

But there are other meat-eating plants, too. Consider, for example, the sundew plant. The leaves of the sundew plant have tiny “hairs” on them that produce a sticky substance which attracts insects. When an insect lands on one of the plants’ leaves, this sticky stuff acts like super glue and prevents the insect from flying away. As the insect struggles to free itself, the tiny hairs on the leaf wrap around the insect and trap it. The fluid then suffocates the insect, which the plant digests and eats. This is quite odd, isn’t it?

But perhaps the most famous of all the meat-eating plants is the Venus flytrap. It is found on the coasts of North and South Carolina, and grows to be about one foot tall. The Venus flytrap has leaves that fit together like the two parts of an animal’s jaw. The leaves, which are 3 to 6 inches long, are covered with tiny hair-like objects like those on the sundew plant. The edge of each leaf also has sharp bristles. When an insect lands on one of the leaves, the two halves of the leaf snap shut like a trap. At the same time, the bristles lock together so that the insect cannot escape. Glands on the leaves then produce a sticky red sap that dissolves the insect and allows it to be eaten by the plant. It takes about 10 days for the entire insect to be digested. After that, the leaves open again and prepare to trap another insect victim.

Scientists who do not believe in God say that plants like the pitcher plant, the sundew plant, and the Venus flytrap just happened by accident because of evolution. But think of all the things that would have to happen at the same time in order for these plants to do what they do. The pitcher plant would have to develop a slick surface and a special liquid that dissolves insects. The sundew plant would have to develop its tiny “hairs” and its special super glue to hold insects. The Venus flytrap would have to develop leaves that work like a jaw. Plus, it also would have to develop the special sap that can kill insects, as well as the strange fluid that helps digest those insects. How could all of this have “just happened”? In Psalm 139:14, the writer said, “I will praise You God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works.” As we study nature, we can see that everything God made is “marvelous.” When we see the amazing design that is built into such things as meat-eating plants, or strange animals like the bombardier beetle, we know that there must have been a designer behind those things. That designer is God. He is the most marvelous of all.

[NOTE:To view the PDF of the full-color handout that accompanies this lesson, click here.]