When Adam sinned and the Lord told him, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,” he soon learned what that meant. Before disobeying God he had no cares or work, just the pleasure of walking through the garden God had provided, occasionally perhaps trimming a branch or picking the fruit.
Now that was changed. Thorns and thistles would grow, and the soil would not so easily give its nourishment, which meant hard work was going to be required, and his labor would produce the sweat of which the Lord God spoke. But, while this must have been hard for Adam to accept, it was actually one proof of God’s love for him that, in spite of the sin he and Eve had committed, he would enjoy the benefit of the very sweat that would always remind him of his sinful nature.
How does the body know when to send sweat to the skin? The Creator has made a most amazing provision that could never “just happen to come about” or take millions of years to develop, as some foolishly claim. A part of the body called the hypothalamus is what starts, stops and regulates it. This complicated organ, about the size of your thumb and located under the center of your brain, performs much like the control tower at an airport where pilots of airplanes are told when to come in, when to leave, which runway to use, and other instructions to insure their safety. Similarly the hypothalamus, among many other things, tells you when to eat, when to drink, when to put on or take off an overcoat, when to sleep, and when to wake up. These instructions, as well as the control of perspiration, are all functions of the hypothalamus.
It is there that the first step in sweating takes place as this little part of the brain sends a message to thousands of sweat glands to open up and pour out moisture. How does it know when to do this? Only the Creator who devised it knows exactly how it works, but its work is truly marvelous. Under hot conditions the sweat cools your skin and, controlled the same way, on a cold day it orders the same sweat glands to shut down and hold back the moisture so you can warm up. Isn’t this remarkable?
This wonderful provision of love for Adam and for all of us reminds us that although God hates sin, He does love sinners and offers the very best gift of all, in spite of our sinful nature. His Word, the Bible, tells us, “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)), and that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life " (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Have you accepted this gift and believed on Him as your Saviour?
ML-03/30/1986