July 14 I Wednesday

Psalms 10-12

Acts 19:1-20

“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”   —Psalm 139:16

A lecturer presented a case study to a group of medical students attending a seminar, explaining, “The father of a family had syphilis and his wife had tuberculosis. They had four children already. The first was blind, the second died, the third was deaf and consequently dumb and the fourth child had tuberculosis. Now, the mother was pregnant with her fifth child and she came to you for advice as to whether or not she should go through with the pregnancy. How would you advise her?” He left this dilemma with the students, allowing them to ponder and make their decision. Afterwards, they all unanimously affirmed that they would recommend the mother to terminate the pregnancy. The lecturer responded, “Congratulations, you just destroyed Ludwig van Beethoven.”

      Abortion is still a prevalent issue in our society and one that we cannot hide ourselves from facing. Some make a decision to terminate a pregnancy because a child will be inconvenient, or because there will be difficulty bringing them up. Yet, this decision loses sight of what stands at the core of every human being—that we are created in God’s image.

      When God said in Genesis 1:26, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness,” He was not talking about a physical image, because God is not a physical being, but a moral image. When God created human beings, it was intended that all of creation could look at a man or a woman and see in them what God is like. Each person, including unborn children, is made with the potential to be the dwelling place of the Spirit of God, and for their life to be an expression of the character of God.  

      Nobody is an accident. Some of us may feel like we were, or our parents may have told us that we were or we may look in the mirror thinking that we look like one, but all of this could not be further from the truth. If we want to know the value that God puts on every human being, we simply need to look at the cross of Jesus Christ. Nothing else shouts more loudly and clearly that every human being is valuable than God Himself, becoming a man, and dying a cruel death to reconcile every man and woman to God. We are precious in God’s eyes, created to be a physical expression of His own character. May we live a life that reflects the image of God and help protect the innocent lives that are valuable in the eyes of God.

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for bringing me into this world. I am overwhelmed by how valuable I am to You, and how You would have Your Son die on behalf of my sins on the cross, so that I can be reconciled to You. Praise You!