Keeping our Immune Systems
Healthy
| Remember, your Father knows
exactly what you need even before you ask him! Matt. 6:8, TLB. |
The human body
has a coordinated defense system more sophisticated than any nation's.
Unlike military weapons that quickly become obsolete, the body's system
never gets outdated. It continually has trillions of "fighter cells" ready
for action. One out of every 100 body cells is a defender cell. This fighting
force of the immune system is so complicated that scientists are just beginning
to appreciate its intricacy and adaptability.
God has designed it to protect
the body without human thought or command. Before birth the body gears
up its defensive system to fight battles that will rage throughout life.
Immediately after birth the immune system receives a big boost in its "firepower"
from mother's milk packed with antibodies ready to fight microbial invaders.
When you are 10 years of age the human immune system is at its strongest.
Imagine for a moment that
disease-causing pathogens slip past the natural defenses of the skin and
stomach acids and invade the body. Within 20 minutes these invaders can
double in number. An infection starting with just one bacterium can multiply
to 1 billion after nine hours and 2 billion after nine hours and 20 minutes!
The human system doesn't wait until it's invaded to prepare, however. It
has already readied fighter cells, each cell having a specific job to do.
They recognize specific enemies and coordinate their battle through their
chemical communication "language." Unlike any other defense system, they
can reproduce by the millions in a matter of hours.
With age the immune system
weakens, so we must be vigilant to keep it active and healthy. Lifestyle
choices and environment have a major impact on how effectively the immune
system functions.
"God's healing power runs
all through nature. If a tree is cut, if a human being is wounded or breaks
a bone, nature begins at once to repair the injury. Even before the need
exists, the healing agencies are in readiness. . . . So it is in the spiritual
realm. Before sin created the need, God had provided the remedy" (Education,
p. 113).
| What are you doing to keep your immune
systems healthy—your body's immune system to fight disease, and your spiritual
immune system to combat sin? |
|