Kid Zone Articles
The "Humble" Foot
Used by permission, Alpha Omega Institute
If you are able, rise up and stand still. Just standing still doesn’t
seem like much, does it? But if you continue to stand for awhile,
you will get tired. A lot of muscles are invisibly working for
you to enable you to stand. Your body has to fight against the
force of gravity, and in doing so, uses energy. Many muscles in
your feet, legs, pelvis, spine, stomach, and shoulders, are
constantly tightening and loosening to align your bones to carry your
weight to the ground.
Now look down to your feet. Not much to get excited about, right? Your
feet might seem feeble, puny and ordinary, but the Bible says:
For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say,
Because lam not the hand, lam not of the body; is it therefore
not of the body?...But now are they many members, yet but one
body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of
thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much
more those members of the body, which seem more feeble, are
necessary. (I Corinthians 12: 14-15, 20-22). Our bodies have many
parts, but the many parts make up only one body. Suppose that the
body was just an ear? How could we see? Or just an eye? How could
you smell? God has made many parts for our body and put them just
where He wants them. So He has made the body with many parts, but
there is still only one body. Some of the parts that seem the least
important are really the most necessary. Your foot may seem
humble, but it is very important.
The human foot with its five toes is a marvel in construction. The feet
and toes are important parts in body movement. They carry and
move the weight of the body during walking and running, and help
to keep balance as the body moves. The foot can adjust itself to
different surfaces and is able to have incredible amounts of
force put upon it. It has been estimated that each step of an
adult places 900 pounds per square inch on the bottom of the
foot! Each foot is made up of twenty-six bones of different
sizes and shapes which make up the ankle, top and bottom of the
foot, and toes. The foot also has about thirty-three muscles,
some of which are connected to the lower leg. The different bones
move along gliding joints, which allow flexibility, and a small
amount of motion. The bones of the foot are placed in such a way as to
form several arches. The long arch from the heel to the ball of
the foot is the most important of these. The arches are supported
and held in place with ligaments and strong muscles in a way that
can carry the weight of the body, very much like steel cables
carry the load of a suspension bridge. The flexible arches also
act as shock absorbers to soften the impact when walking on a hard
surface. The foot is a miniature suspension bridge. However, it
is more complicated than any manmade bridge. The design of the
foot gives it flexibility, making walking, running and other
movements possible. If the foot were stiff and flat, and hooked
solidly to the bone of the leg, walking would be nearly impossible.
Being able to walk and move from place to place and to balance an
upright body on a relatively small platform (the feet) is an
amazing feature of the human body. The human foot is a
masterpiece of engineering. If you asked anyone, "Do you think
the suspension bridge over the Royal Gorge just happened by
chance and accident?", they would think you were crazy. Some
people who believe in evolution believe that the human foot (an
even more complex mechanism than a bridge) accidentally happened
by chance without a master designer.
The human foot has been duplicated billions and billions of times in
every human birth with exactly the same shape and form and with
the same number of bones, tendons, muscles and nerves. The
wonders of the "humble" foot demand a master engineer! That
engineer is God the Creator!
