Bones–God’s Living Girders. Make no “bones” about it. We need them!

3:7-8 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear [reverence, take seriously] the Lord and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

I had previously thought of bones as solid. Not So! As we look at their amazing structural design, we will definitely see a Master Designer.

From, “A Pocket Guide to the Human Body, page 49-51

The adult human skeleton consists of about 206 bones. However, the number varies with age. At birth, the human body has about 300 bones, but as the body ages and matures, many of these bones fuse together. The adult skull (without its lower jaw), for example, appears to be one bone, but in fact is made up of 22 fused bones: 8 in the skull proper and 14 in the face. The clavicle (collar bone) is the last bone to completely fuse, about the age of 25.

The mature skeleton has two basic types of bone, compact bone and spongy bone. One offers brute strength, while the other has a sophisticated design that provides strength with the least possible weight.
The strong tubular shaft of long bones, such as our thigh bone (femur), is made of compact bone. Compact bone itself appears to be completely solid, but is actually permeated with many blood vessels running lengthwise within hollow tunnels, called Volkmann’s canals. Surrounding each of these canals are concentric rings, or layers, of bone that form osteons. This architecture helps give compact bone its great strength.

Spongy bone occurs mostly inside each end of long bones. Spongy bone receives its name from its appearance, not because it can be squeezed like a sponge.
The surface area of spongy bone is vastly greater than that of compact bone, so it is mostly in this type of bone that calcium and phosphorus are stored and removed to maintain mineral balance in our body fluids. Each of the little beams of spongy bone is oriented precisely to impart the greatest strength for the load placed on the bone. Amazingly, when the load placed on bone changes, such as during pregnancy, the spongy bone can change its shape to best accommodate the new load.

And, we’re just getting started! Tomorrow, we will look at a bone’s functions. For today, let’s take our Proverbs verse seriously and be wise in how we live. May we depend upon the Spirit’s guidance at all times as we walk life’s road with the Lord.

Abba, the structure You have given us is amazing! It’s strong, but flexible, and can heal itself as well as provide essential nutrients for our bodies. Your Word works in just the same way. What You say to us, either through our Bibles, prayer, circumstances or others, makes us strong and flexible, it heals us even while we provide essential “nutrients” for the body of Christ, like love, comfort, help, advice, and fellowship. You are amazing, heavenly Father! We praise You. Amen.