Readings for today: Psalms 138-141, 1 Corinthians 10:1-22
Recently, the Supreme Court decided not to act on a law passed in Texas banning abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat which is usually around six weeks. It is the latest in a series of legal challenges seeking to overturn the landmark decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973. I imagine there will be a flurry of lawsuits filed in the weeks ahead. The rhetoric will heat up and debates will rage over the lack of exceptions for rape and incest, a woman’s right to govern her own body, the lack of quality post-natal care in many cases, the quality of life for children born into poverty or with severe special needs, etc. And many of those debates are absolutely worth having. However, what is often lost in all the noise is the fundamental truth that every child conceived is an absolute miracle from God. Every child conceived is precious in His sight. Known and knit together by God’s own hands.
Human beings are sacred creatures. Made in God’s image. Fashioned after His likeness. Created to enjoy a unique and special relationship with their Creator. Listen again to how the Psalmist describes it in Psalm 139:1-18, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” Why on earth do we deserve such divine attention? What have we done to catch the attention of God? God loves us so much He pursues us. He seeks after us. He will not rest until we rest in Him. He wants to know us and He wants us to know Him. He sees our every move. He knows every thought. He is acquainted with all our ways. There is not a moment when His eye is not upon us.
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” God is ever-present. He is always with us. Not because we have earned it. Not because we deserve it. But simply because He has decreed it. He is with the good and the evil alike. He is with both victims and perpetrators. He is with the Pope in His cathedral and the worst despots the world has to offer. That may surprise you. It may even upset you. But you have to remember God is a God of both comfort and conviction. He is a God of mercy as well as judgment. He is a God of grace as well as justice. To the godly, His presence is a joy. To the ungodly, His presence is a terror. His goal in abiding with humanity is to draw all of us to Himself. There is no place we can run from Him. No place we can hide from Him. Before God, all our secrets are laid bare.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” God initiates a relationship with us even as we’re being formed in the womb. Even as He forms our inward parts, He is calling out to us. Singing over us. Looking forward to the day when we will embrace Him as Father. Even as our heart begins to beat, God looks forward to the day when it beats for Him. Even as our hands and feet begin to take shape, God looks forward to the day when we will reach out to Him. Run to Him. Even as our minds and hearts come into being, God is already planting in us a deep longing for Himself. This is true for every single child who has ever been conceived or who ever will be conceived.
“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:1-18) When our eyes are opened to the wonders of God, we are overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by His goodness. Overwhelmed by His greatness. Overwhelmed by His grace to us. God is unabashedly pro-life. Pro my life. Pro your life. Pro every life. From the womb to the tomb, God is on our side. He is with us. As believers, our place is to stand on the side of life. Always. Forever. In every area of life. We stand with the unborn whose lives are so fragile and vulnerable. We stand with the criminals whose lives could be cut short by the death penalty. We stand with the immigrants who have risked their lives for a chance at a new and better life. We stand with the refugees who had to flee for their lives from places like Afghanistan. We stand with the impoverished whose lives are a struggle every single day. We stand with the victims who have suffered in their lives from abuse or injustice or brutality at the hands of someone in power over them. We stand for life because God stands for life.
Readings for tomorrow: Psalms 142-144, 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1