Sweat is something we don’t think much about . . . until it drips from our foreheads or stains a shirt or blouse. But we should be thankful for sweat. It is one of the marvels of the human body, designed by the Creator to add to the comfort and enjoyment of life.
Humans have a greater capacity to sweat than most other mammals. Elephants, for instance, can only hunt for shade, waggle their big ears like fans, or spray water over their bodies to keep cool. Hippos stay under water when it is hot, and even lions and tigers stay in the shade or jump into the water when they become too warm. Dogs that seem to be smiling are really cooling off by opening their mouths and letting their wet tongues hang out for relief.
The human body has about two million sweat glands, called pores, like tiny tubes coming from the lower part of the skin to the outside. You may ask, “What’s the purpose of this sweat system?” Actually, it is God’s design to give human beings a healthy and quick way to cool off in hot weather after playing or working hard or when excited by emotions. Sweating brings relief, and when the emotions are past, the skin returns to normal. At all times, awake or asleep, various parts of the body are sweating, usually so lightly that we are not aware of it.
Perspiration helps keep us cool by its evaporation, just as many air conditioners do. Have you noticed a nice cool feeling while you’re dripping wet after a swim, but when dried off you get warm again? That’s just what sweating does for you. Sweating covers you with moisture that does the same thing, and largely because of its action your body temperature of 98.6° (except when sick) is always the same, summer or winter. In addition to the cooling benefit of the moisture in sweat, some of the undesirable chemicals that get into our bodies (from improper food or drinks and pollution and dust in the air we breathe) are removed by sweating and deposited on the outside where they can do no more harm.
The more we consider the bodies the Creator has given us, the more we are amazed at the wonders of every part and how they have been designed by His supreme wisdom. The praise and expressions of David in Psalm 139 quoted above, and his recognition of the One who created him, are exactly the thoughts that each of us should have.
Have you ever praised and thanked our Creator God who made and preserves you?
(to be continued)
ML-05/15/2005