Are stinging, biting insects something to be feared or hated? Do they present a real threat to our health and happiness? Popular opinion would say yes. Concern over West Nile virus and malaria, and the struggle to combat these mosquito-borne diseases, confirm this opinion. But effective protection can be found by looking at things from a different perspective—one presented in the Bible.
In the very first chapter of Genesis, it is written, “God made … every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion … over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth (verses 25, 26). Eugene Peterson translates “every creeping thing” as “every sort of reptile and bug” (The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language). We are told that not only are all living things good, but that man has been given dominion (or control) over them. To me, that control means more than having the ability to kill creatures that are threatening our peace and well-being. It means perceiving to such an extent the natural proclivity for all of God’s creatures to dwell together in harmony, that all fear and conflict disappear.
In the textbook of Christian Science, author Mary Baker Eddy writes: “Understanding the control which Love held over all, Daniel felt safe in the lions’ den, and Paul proved the viper to be harmless. All of God’s creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 514).
