“He . . . set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.”
Psalm 40:23
A newborn baby has 350 bones, but some are so soft and pliable that they hardly seem to be bones. Some of these fuse together as the baby grows, so that when he is full-grown the number is reduced to 206. It takes the foot, with its 26 bones, about 20 years to fully develop as one of the most distinctive parts of your whole body.
The arrangement of these 26 foot bones has been perfectly designed by the Creator not only to support your weight, but to enable you to move about easily. This is important because just in the normal pattern of activity an adult walks about 65,000 miles during his lifetime (equivalent to two-and-a-half times around the world).
Your foot’s perfectly designed arch works like a spring simultaneously with the bending of your knees and movement of the ankles and toes. Many of these bones are not strong in themselves, being only half the thickness of a pencil, yet the way they are arranged makes them strong enough to support a heavy person. If you had xray vision and could see through the skin of your foot, you would discover why these bones don’t break, even with all the rough treatment they get. The bones in the foot are attached to strong muscles by over 100 tendons, keeping them in place and working in harmony with the muscles so that the workload is shared by all of them working together.
Not only are those parts of the foot kept in such remarkable order, but to further strengthen them, the whole wonderful package is kept in place by tape-like bands strapped over and around them. Then there are the important blood vessels bringing constant nourishment to all parts, as well as nerve endings that carry messages to and from the brain.
The principal purpose of our legs and feet is, of course, to carry our bodies wherever we need to go, and God in His Word, the Bible, reminds us to be careful where we let them take us.
If we are His children, through faith in Christ, the opening verses tell us what He has done for us. Another verse says, “Ponder [think about] the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established” (Proverbs 4:2626Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. (Proverbs 4:26)). Then Hebrews 12:1313And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. (Hebrews 12:13) says, “Make straight paths for your feet.”
These are important instructions if we are to live happy Christian lives, pleasing the Lord Jesus and helping those around us.
(to be continued)
JULY 19, 1998
ML-07/19/1998