A body full of wonders

Have you seen those body-shape T-shirts? Not the ones that squeeze in your extra layers from last winter, but the ones that have pictures of a body printed on them, the ones that a guy who's wearing a spare tire around his waist can put on and instantly have the image of six-pack abs or the 90-year-old great-grandmother puts on a shirt and instantly has the body of a 20-year-old bikini model. Do they reflect a warped sense of humor? Maybe.

Psalm 139:14 reads, "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous -- how well I know it." These words were not penned from a vain ego that caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror stood there a while and said out loud, "Oh yeah! How well I know it." These words were divinely penned out of meditating of the wonder, intricacies and complexities of the human body. Meditations that didn't grow self-praise but foster a sense of utter amazement at the works of the creator.

The human body is extremely intricate. It is composed of systems that each have functions but cooperate with one another to perform amazing feats along with more mundane activities such as typing. The Psalmist has come to the conclusion that even the most intricate parts of our lives have been shaped by the creator.

The phrasing "wonderfully complex" comes from a word meaning "distinct." It implies a sense of distinctness. It emphasizes what we know but often fail to see: that no two people are alike. We share many qualities, but we are each unique. There is no one else on the planet like you.

The Psalmist is praising the Lord not only for his own uniqueness, but for the tremendous amount of diversity that stretches across the globe. Thank heavens there is no one else on the planet like me or you.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it, but I have to wonder if the guy or gal who is wearing the body shape T-shirt either has a warped sense of humor or is secretly wishing that is who they really were. But when we stop to think how amazing each of us truly is no matter what. it should fill us with a sense of wonder.

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Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.