Most of us never think about our skin unless it is injured or needs washing, but it is a most necessary part of the body. The underside is called the dermis, which is filled with nerve endings, blood vessels and glands. Over this is the epidermis, the visible part.
If you could spread an adult’s skin out flat, it would cover about 18 square feet, with each square inch containing approximately three feet of tiny blood vessels, 12 feet of nerves, 100 sweat glands and more than three million cells! Strangely enough, the skin’s surface is actually dead. However, the cells at its base are alive, and new ones are continually being produced. These new cells push the old, dying ones to the surface where they get rubbed off, even though we cannot see this taking place.
Your skin is an armor, providing protection from outside harm and a barrier to germs and foreign matter. Healthy skin can stand harsh weather and extreme temperatures of hot and cold that would damage your internal organs. It also plays an important part in the control of body temperature. When you are uncomfortably warm, radiation (the heat given off from your body) is made possible by perspiration, with its cooling effect. But in cold weather the pores close up and body heat is kept inside. Isn’t it interesting that skin permits moisture (sweating) to come out, but allows no moisture to go in, even if submerged in water?
The lines and whorls on our hands provide tiny ridges to grip objects that are to be handled. Those on the feet give a barefooted person sure contact wherever he walks. Perfectly smooth hands and feet would not work well at all. The little ridges were provided by a wise Creator. Fingerprints and footprints also are a positive means of identifying people - no two are alike, not even identical twins.
Of what use are fingernails? They stiffen the finger tips and offer protection from injury as well. Without them it would be impossible for the fingers to pick up most small objects.
Skin has a remarkable ability to recover from injury. Even when serious damage takes place, healthy skin will heal itself, often leaving a scar to remind its owner of the help it has given him.
When our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, we learn that we have another armor which protects against the attacks of Satan. Two important parts of this armor are “the Word of God,” the Bible, and “the shield of faith.” When, with God’s help, we put these to use we can resist Satan and find joy in the Lord Jesus. This armor is explained fully in Ephesians 6:1018. It is good to read these scriptures often.
JULY 2, 1995
ML-07/02/1995