Our skin is so amazing. As our bodies largest organ, it acts as a barrier between us and our environment, insulating, protecting the organs, muscles, veins and bones from external threats. So everything from dust and dirt to bacteria and viruses can’t just go walking in. Even when it gets a cut, if we clean it and protect it, the scrape will heal right up. Our skin helps regulate body temperature by releasing sweat in hot weather. When we are overly cool we get goose bumps and shiver. A shiver is caused by our muscles tightening and relaxing in rapid succession. This involuntary muscle movement is our body’s natural response to getting colder and trying to warm up. Being a sensory organ, our skin has receptors for detecting hot and cold, touch, pressure, and pain. Some other cool skin statistics is our skin is composed of approximately 300 million skin cells. And every half square inch of the human skin has approximately 100 sweat glands, 10 hairs, 15 sebaceous glands, and 3.2 feet of tiny blood vessels.

Human skin varies in type, color and texture for every person, but everyone’s skin serves the same primary purpose — to protect our inside. God has made each of us unique, in that no one has the same fingerprint on the skin of our fingers. To keep protecting us, our skin grows when we do. I grew 7 inches in Grade 12. My friends affectionately called me “Lirch” and fortunately my skin physically grew with me. It would be horrific if it didn’t. But not my clothes. I was relentlessly made fun of by others at high school because my pant and sleeve length was so short. People can be very cruel. Back to skin, the global skincare market worldwide in the form of creams, lotions and powders was valued at 109.71 billion US dollars in 2023. It is estimated it will grow to 115.65 billion this year in 2024 and is estimated to reach 194.05 billion by 2032. I use an anti-aging facial moisturizer myself. I have no idea if it even helps, but I have bought in to the hype. We live under the tyrannical reign of youth culture, thanks mainly to the influence of advertisers. Models may have blemishes airbrushed out and if it is a photo, that image could be filtered. Now with artificial intelligence becoming a big part of our culture, that image of a model might not actually even be a real living human being. Scary stuff.

The second type of skin is our emotional skin. Some people are thick skinned where criticism doesn’t seem to bother them. On the other hand, criticism can really hurt a thin skinned person. A good rule of thumb if you are a thin skinned person, it probably would not be a good idea to run for political office. I am more of a thin skinned person myself. Growing up, I was quite often criticized at home. I don’t say this in a pity-mongering way, I say this because it was the reality of my childhood. This was extremely normal in the Canadian farming communities in the 1960’s. There were expectations for us farm kids. I was an extension and reflection of my (well-intended) parents, whose goal was raising an obedient child who stayed out of trouble while also developing a strong work ethic. Growing up on a family farm was tough, but still a great way to grow up. There were some not so great memories. Like shoveling grain all day in the hot, dusty grainery as a 12 year old during grain threshing. It was so hard to breathe in there. These were pre-combine, pre-steel grain bin days when the grain full of itchy chaff was moved by conveyor from the threshing machine into an enclosed room (called a grainery) in the upper floor of the barn. There was no air movement. The grain needed to be manually shoveled from the front of the grainery to the back. I dreaded the grain harvest. In a recent reminiscing with my older sister Linda about threshing season, the reason she thought she was sent to work in the grainery was so she would die. Fortunately, I didn’t get to that point. But there were also great memories. Like training Hereford calves and then showing them at the local fall fair called Oro World’s Fair. Like any parents, my mom and dad did their very best. Though never spoken in words growing up, I know they loved me. They did raise me to have a strong work ethic and I believe a sensitivity to others. Plus, I’ve never gotten in trouble with the law. My mom and dad did well. My dad died when I was 15. He was 47. His death devastated not only myself, but also our family. It also sent shock waves through the local close knit farming community of Edgar. My mom died when I was 53. She was 83. I miss them both deeply. The last few years of my mom’s life she became more and more dependent on others, particularly with my sister and myself. These were very best years of our relationship. Those years she often said how proud she was of me. She loved my wife Lynne so much. She spoke so extremely highly of her and cared deeply for her grandchildren.

The third type of skin is our spiritual skin. The Bible doesn’t actually call it a skin, it calls it an amor that we need to put on each day for living our Christian life. The enemy, the devil is so ruthless with his attacks, that we need full protection. I remember reading a prayer somewhere. I can’t remember exactly how it went, but it was something like this, “Dear Lord, So far I’ve done alright. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper, haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m glad about that. But in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed. And from then on, I’m going to need a lot more help.

Ephesians chapter 6:10-20 talks about this armor of God. This is taken from the Message Bible, “And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong.  So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.  Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.”

The weapons to be used are found in vs. 13 to 17 of Ephesians 6. A couple things I noticed is first, the Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes of Readiness Given by the Gospel of Peace, Shield of Faith and Helmet of Salvation are defensive in nature, not intended for attack but to protect. The second thing is all these weapons cover the front of the soldier, not intended for retreat but to stand. The final piece of armor of the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness He countered the attacks of the devil by using Scripture. This is what we need to do as well. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” All our skin is so important. Society places such a massive emphasis on our temporal, physical skin, which often can be superficial. Some people are more aware than others of our emotional skin. So little thought is given for our spiritual skin, God’s armor. God provides it, we just need to wear it.