Kate [Loop] Hannon
Every time we go to the doctor, the nurse takes a few key measurements: our blood pressure, weight, height (if we’re still growing), and temperature. Depending on our issue, they might run some blood work. They do this because God finely tuned our bodies to operate just right, and these numbers—as well as many others—can clue us in if something is out of place.
Blood Pressure
Stop and marvel at your heart for just a moment. All without your thinking about it, it pumps blood at just the right pressure through your body, adjusting that pressure automatically based on your activity level. If it beats with too high a pressure or low, your body stops functioning correctly. Ask someone who’s had that happen, and they can tell you what a gift a working heart really is.
Height & Weight
Your height and weight can be used to calculate what we call a BMI (Body Mass Index). Simply divide your weight by your height in metric to find yours. That simple ratio gives us a way to compare if we’re at a healthy weight and to see if children are growing appropriately.
Temperature
It’s no fun when we run a fever, is it? God designed our bodies to operate within a certain range, and when our immune system has to raise our temperature higher to fight off an infection, we feel it. We don’t often stop to think, though, about how amazing it is that our bodies can control our temperature so precisely in the first place. Yet a functioning body temperature is a daily gift from God.
Blood Work
Doctors sometimes need to draw blood to test the elements being carried around your body. If you’ve ever looked at blood work results, you might have noticed that it’s filled with numbers of what was in the blood analyzed, as well as normal ranges for that value. If you’ve ever had anything show up as abnormal on your blood work, you may know how something simple being off in our blood can cause major problems. For example, if our blood sugar is off, as is the case with diabetes, we can experience major health issues.
Stop & Praise
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” Psalm 139:13-14 (ESV)
When we use math to measure the quantities and operations in our bodies, we see that we are indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made.” We’re finely tuned on so many levels, from blood pressure to temperature, sugar levels to oxygenation—the list could go on and on. Our amazing bodies cause us to praise our great Creator!
At the same time, the reality that our bodies don’t always work right reminds us that we live in a fallen world—a world gone wrong because of sin. In God’s original creation, Adam and Eve’s bodies worked just right all the time. Sin changed that. Now we’re all in the process of dying, and our bodies often don’t stay perfectly tuned. Sin is serious, and we’ve all sinned. We desperately need the Savior, Jesus Christ; through faith in Him, we can look forward to a perfect world again with new bodies that do work perfectly.
Next time you think about math, remember that it helps us explore God’s creation—including our bodies. As it does, it points us to God’s amazing design—and reminds us of the seriousness of sin. Pause and praise the God who both knit you together and chose to become a human to save you from sin and bring you to Himself and a perfect world again.
