Did you ever think how amazing it is that when people reach 20 (or near that age), their bodies stop growing? The Creator has wisely arranged this, for if our spines, legs and arms kept growing, what a strange assortment of giant people there would be!
However, three parts of our body don’t stop growing - hair, fingernails and toenails. Why is that? It is actually a kind provision of our Creator. Think about our hair. It keeps falling out and in time would also be worn off if new hair didn’t push up through our scalp a little bit every day, which it does at the rate of five or more inches every year. This means that every 20 years more than eight feet of new hair replaces what has fallen out.
But why should our fingernails and toenails keep growing? We can be thankful they do. Our nails do get broken or damaged, and if a new supply didn’t grow, the ends of our fingers and toes would soon be exposed to all the painful bumps and accidents now absorbed by the nails. They are really wonderful pieces of armor.
Also, think how useful our fingernails are in picking up a coin dropped on the floor or a needle on a flat table top or many other small things. And without them, how would you untie a knot in a thread, piece of string or fish line? How would you relieve an itch if you had no fingernail to scratch with?
Some may think fingernails and toenails are bone, but that is not true. They, like our hair, are made of a material called keratin which our bodies produce from the food we eat. How does it get to these specific parts of the body? Our brains are constantly giving instructions to every part, including our stomachs: “As soon as that food is digested, send some keratin up for the hair, send another part to the ten fingernails and still another part to the ten toenails.” This isn’t just imagination; it’s actually the way our bodies respond to our brains’ commands! When these instructions are carried out and the new hair or nail forms behind the old hair or nail, it pushes it out a little, until finally it’s so noticeable that you may find it necessary to trim your hair, as well as those nails on your fingers and toes.
This is all part of the Creator’s wonderful arrangements for us, as our opening verse tells us.
Each member of the body responds just as He has established. Let us not forget to thank Him daily for providing every little, but important, detail of our bodies. “Giving thanks always for all things unto God” (Ephesians 5:2020Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; (Ephesians 5:20)).
ML-10/03/1999