I want to introduce you to a friend of mine this morning. (Show picture of a camel.) This is Harry. Harry has big eyes, a big round nose, big feet, and either one or two humps on his back. Can you tell me what kind of an animal Harry is? Right! He’s a camel. Harry the Camel.

The Bible tells us in Romans 1:20 that we can know that God exists by looking at the things He has made. Do you know who made Harry and other camels like him? That’s right. God did! On the sixth day of creation, when God made all of the land animals, He made a boy camel and a girl camel who were Harry’s ancestors.  

God really knew what He was doing when He made animals like Harry. Let me tell you why I say that. 

Do you know what kind of country Harry lives in? Does he live in the ocean? No. I imagine Harry couldn’t swim very well. Does he live in the tall trees? No. Harry would probably kill himself if he fell out of a tall tree. Besides, camels can’t climb trees, can they? So where does Harry live? He lives in the desert, where it’s very, very, hot. So hot, in fact, that unless human beings carry lots of water and cover themselves up from the direct sun, they can die. But Harry and other camels like him do just fine in the desert. That’s because of the way God made him. 

Have you ever had sand in your eyes? It really hurts, doesn’t it? Did you notice Harry’s big eyes? Can you imagine how much Harry’s big eyes would hurt in the desert where sand blows around all the time? But if you look closely you’ll see that Harry has big, curly eyelashes and big, bushy eyebrows. When the sand blows, all he has to do is squint his eyes and no sand gets in. 

Can you imagine how hard it would be to breathe in a sand storm? What do you suppose Harry does to breathe when a sandstorm blows up? Well, God has designed his nose so that he can open it and close it whenever he wants to in order to keep out the sand. Can you open and close your nose? Not without using your hands!   

Living in the desert like Harry does, do you suppose he ever gets thirsty? You bet he does! But camels can’t carry canteens, can they? But don’t worry about Harry. Camels can drink up to 30 gallons of water at one time. In fact, they can drink 20 gallons in ten minutes! That water is then stored in Harry’s blood so that he doesn’t need another drink for two weeks! Harry is a walking canteen! 

And maybe you thought that those humps on a camel’s back were for riding. But that’s not why camels have humps. That hump is a place where Harry stores fat – up to 100 pounds of it in each hump. Harry and camels like him can travel up to 40 miles a day on the fat stored in that hump! He can live without food for a month! He just absorbs the fat in his hump. As he uses the fat, the hump shrinks down. Then when it’s time for him to eat, it just goes right back up again. 

Oh, and one more thing about the way God made Harry. Have you ever tried to run barefoot in loose, hot sand? I hope not, because your feet sink and you can’t move very fast. Your feet get blistered. Can you imagine how bogged down Harry must get when he tries to run across the sand? Ah, but that’s another place where God has designed Harry in a special way. He has extra thick skin on his feet. Also, because he weighs so much, to keep him from sinking down in the loose sand, his feet spread out wide so that he doesn’t sink. God thought of everything when He designed camels! 

That’s the way all of God’s creation is. Plants, animals, people, all specially designed to do the things God put them on the earth to do. Don’t every let anybody make you believe that all of that design didn’t have a great Designer – a God in heaven who made everything and everybody just as He wanted to.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

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