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sophisticated than any nation's. Unlike military weapons that quickly become obsolete, the body's system never gets outdated.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?
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sophisticated than any nation's. Unlike military weapons that quickly become obsolete, the body's system never gets outdated.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?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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