Life has been keeping itself ever before me these days. Two weddings in the last week, the imminent birth of a friend’s baby, three birthdays this weekend, Memorial Day, and the announcement of pregnancy by another friend have all reiterated not only the cycle of life, but also the preciousness of life. The only thing missing from my list is an essential component of life: death. That happened too, though. Approximately 25,900 innocent lives were snuffed out in the last seven days alone in the USA because of abortion. And Washington state experienced the first repercussion of the curse her citizens so gladly embraced last November. After becoming the second state in the nation to allow assisted suicide, Washington’s law allowed a doctor to murder when he was trained to heal, and he successfully aided a 66-year-old woman in killing herself. Linda Fleming purposefully ended her own life with the help of a doctor on Thursday, May 21st, 2009. Hers was the first legal physician-assisted suicide in Washington state.
Life is the most precious gift one can ever receive or ever give. Life provides the ultimate test of fidelity, the greatest opportunity for sacrifice, the best way to show love, and the easiest way to show selfishness. Life is in the hands of our Creator. Job 1:21 says, “…Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Readers, I feel a bit as though I am “preaching to the choir” here. It is likely that the vast majority of you agree with me; you believe abortion is wrong. You think euthanasia is never right. However, I have to ask you; are you suiting actions to words? What have you done in this past week filled with life—but also overflowing with needless death—to stand up for life? There are countless ways one can stand up for life, from volunteering at a Caring Pregnancy Center to serving a large family that believes every child is a gift from God. From getting the word out about a ballot initiative to honoring and helping those “old” people in your life whom society views as useless. From fasting and praying and getting right with God so that nationwide revival can start with personal revival to standing alone in a debate amongst friends and lovingly proclaiming the preciousness of life.
My great-grandma came to America fifty years ago after experiencing Hitler’s cruelty. He wanted to eliminate every person that didn’t match up to his idea of ‘perfection’. One way he did this was by denying his victims enough food and water; today we call these atrocious events murder. What do we call starving a disabled woman to death (as was done in the case of Terri Schiavo)? Starting with Roe v. Wade, and continuing with progressively more lenient sentences for murderers, the murdering of embryonic cells for “research”, and physician-assisted suicide, our society has failed to honor life. I leave you with a quote from an excellent article entitled “The Devaluing of Human Life” : “‘The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”’ When we devalue God we devalue human life. When we honor God, we give value to human life.”
For further reading, please visit:
http://www.lvanwerven.com/2009/05/washington-states-first-assisted.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008352033_1000prop05m.html
Life is the most precious gift one can ever receive or ever give. Life provides the ultimate test of fidelity, the greatest opportunity for sacrifice, the best way to show love, and the easiest way to show selfishness. Life is in the hands of our Creator. Job 1:21 says, “…Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Readers, I feel a bit as though I am “preaching to the choir” here. It is likely that the vast majority of you agree with me; you believe abortion is wrong. You think euthanasia is never right. However, I have to ask you; are you suiting actions to words? What have you done in this past week filled with life—but also overflowing with needless death—to stand up for life? There are countless ways one can stand up for life, from volunteering at a Caring Pregnancy Center to serving a large family that believes every child is a gift from God. From getting the word out about a ballot initiative to honoring and helping those “old” people in your life whom society views as useless. From fasting and praying and getting right with God so that nationwide revival can start with personal revival to standing alone in a debate amongst friends and lovingly proclaiming the preciousness of life.
My great-grandma came to America fifty years ago after experiencing Hitler’s cruelty. He wanted to eliminate every person that didn’t match up to his idea of ‘perfection’. One way he did this was by denying his victims enough food and water; today we call these atrocious events murder. What do we call starving a disabled woman to death (as was done in the case of Terri Schiavo)? Starting with Roe v. Wade, and continuing with progressively more lenient sentences for murderers, the murdering of embryonic cells for “research”, and physician-assisted suicide, our society has failed to honor life. I leave you with a quote from an excellent article entitled “The Devaluing of Human Life” : “‘The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”’ When we devalue God we devalue human life. When we honor God, we give value to human life.”
For further reading, please visit:
http://www.lvanwerven.com/2009/05/washington-states-first-assisted.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008352033_1000prop05m.html
Ok, what am I supposed to say to that? Yes! I'll stand for live - actively. Thanks Mika!
ReplyDeleteFor me at least, "standing for life" is some vague term that is neither practical for day-to-day living, nor concrete. So I'm hoping that I've encouraged you to "stand for life actively" just by the way you live your life. ;-) It's something I need to work on just as much as the next guy (or gal).
ReplyDeleteWow! I remember when my brother Daniel who works over there in the Washington Senate, told us about that bill and when it passed we were all so horrified! it's incredible to see how our society is changing so much for the worst. Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention. What an important post!
ReplyDelete