- Series:Plants, Transcript English
Matthew 16:26
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Throughout the open markets of Kenya, shopkeepers sell leaves and strips of bark from the warburgia bush. The leaves and bark are used to relieve toothaches, fevers, constipation, and the taste of meat gone slightly sour. Medical researchers have been examining extracts from the bush for use with antibiotics.
The immune system of a healthy person will keep fungal infections under control quite easily. When the immune system has been weakened by illness, however, heavy doses of antibiotics, chemotherapy and fungal infections can be life-threatening.
Researchers discovered that two extracts from the warburgia bush can boost the effects of antibiotics. One of the extracts, coupled with an antibiotic used against yeast cells, resulted in a treatment that was 16 times more powerful than the antibiotic alone. Warburgia extracts also boosted antibiotics’ effects against various fungal infections, including the fungus that causes athlete’s foot.
How many medicines has our Creator hidden in the plants of the earth for us to discover? We can thank Him that, in His mercy, He has provided so many earthly remedies for the disease that has resulted because of sin. What is more important, however, is that we can thank Him for the forgiveness of sins that was won by Christ for us in His suffering and death.
Prayer:
Thank You, Father, for Your generous gifts that have helped us reverse some of the earthly effects of sin. Bless our researchers as they continue to search for more medicines. However, help me always remember to look to Christ for the ultimate, permanent solution to my sin. In His Name. Amen.
Notes:
D. Franklin. 1984. “Plant Extract Fights Fungus.” Science News, June 16, p. 375. Photo: Warburgia was named for the German botanist Otto Warburg.
