It’s easy to forget that skin is the largest organ in the human body. Even in the densest places, it’s just a few millimeters thick! (A millimeter is just a little bigger than a grain of sand.) But your skin probably weighs somewhere between seven and 22 pounds!

God gave us skin to protect us. This flexible barrier keeps good stuff (muscles and bones) in. It also keeps bad stuff (germs and toxins) out. It keeps us safe from getting too much of good things like moisture and sun. Shower water cleans us—but we don’t want it inside our bodies mixing with our blood! Sunlight keeps us warm and gives us essential vitamin D. But it also carries ultraviolet (UV) rays. Exposure to too much UV radiation can cause cancer. Here we see God’s design at work again. The epidermis produces a coloring called melanin. It guards the skin from UV rays. People with dark skin usually come from hot parts of the world where the Sun beats down. Their skin produces more melanin. Fair-skinned people, on the other hand, usually come from northern places with scarce sunlight. They don’t need extra melanin to protect them from sun. They need lighter skin to let in as much vitamin D as possible.

But God didn’t make us bulletproof. Our skin is a protector that needs protecting. Standing out in the sun until you blister will hurt a lot—and it can have life-threatening consequences later. Cuts that aren’t cleaned and bandaged will grow infected. Dirty skin will clog up and get oily. And did you know your skin is like a sponge? Things you put on your hands quickly get absorbed into your blood stream. What you put on the outside of your body can be just as important as what you put inside it! Test it out. Try sticking a slice of fresh garlic in your sock. How long does it take before you taste garlic on your tongue?