Pop quiz: What colour is a polar bear’s skin?

Did you guess “white”?

It’s the obvious answer, isn’t it, because their fur is white.

Surprisingly, though, you’d be wrong.

If you shaved a polar bear, you’d discover that it would look much like its cousin, the black bear.

That’s right: polar bears have black skin!

Don’t believe me? Here’s a clue: check out their noses and foot pads. They’re both black. Their thick fur so completely hides the blackness underneath that you’d never know it’s there.

Not only that, but polar bears’ fur isn’t actually white.

Pardon me?

It’s true! Their outer coat of fur consists of translucent hollow hairs that scatter and reflect visible light. These hairs have no white pigment, but merely appear white due to an optical trick involving the physics of light.

The polar bears certainly had us fooled, didn’t they?

And they’re not the only ones.

There are people whose lives have been so thoroughly changed by the gospel of Christ that you’d be shocked to discover their dark past.

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