Touch

The largest organ of our bodies is the skin covering about 21 square feet of the average adult body and weighing 9 pounds with more than 11 miles of blood vessels. Our skin sheds 50,000 cells every minute and humans are responsible for about a billion tons of dust (dead skin) in the atmosphere. God’s creative work helps us “feel” the world around us. Receptors enable us to feel and react to pain and to touch. A study conducted in the 1940’s of 26 children in an orphanage proved the value of touch. Removed from human touch as infants, there development was significantly derailed in that at the age of one they were less curious, less playful, and more subject to infections. By the age of 3, only 2 of the 26 children could walk and manage a few words (http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/histoire_bleu06.html).

When we ourselves or someone we know is hurting, our first response is to touch. Doctors and Nurses know the value of touch. First responders know the value of touch, often employing touch as a technique to calm and soothe pain, confusion, and agony. Teachers know the value with a student who is not listening or causing a disturbance by simply touching their shoulder often draws their attention back into order. When a loved one dies, or is involved in a tragic accident, family gathers and touches. When a child scrapes their knee parents console with touch. Customarily, when we meet one another we shake hands or hug. Even for those who struggle with touch, often resort to fist bumps as an acceptable form of touch.

God touches us all. Adam was not just acquainted with fellowship with God, but God actually touched him. When God formed man in Genesis 2:7 the word “formed” in Hebrew is “yatsar” which means to mold into a form much like a potter. God’s hands reached down, touched Adam, and formed him with love and care. In Genesis 2:22, God made Eve and the Hebrew word for “made” is “banah,” which means to build. Therefore, men are Biblically correct when they say, “She’s built!” Oh, I digress. God too touched her. We see in Jeremiah 1:5 that God forms and touches babies in the womb utilizing the same Hebrew word found in Genesis 2. You were touched by the hands of God when you were conceived in the womb of your mother. There is a deep longing within the heart of man to feel the touch of God again in their lives. Nothing can satisfy the heart of man until they are experiencing the touch of God in their lives, again. When man separates himself from the touch of God, man is lost. Sin separates us from the touch of God. Have you experienced the touch of God again in your life recently? Do you experience His touch daily? You can! Where are you? Do you recognize your lost state? You may need to just get in His presence today and feel God’s touch.

Then the word of the Lord came to me [Jeremiah], saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:4-5 (AMP)