Medical technology is amazing. Today, surgery that used to be done with a scalpel is now done with a laser. My little brother recently had laser eye surgery and is very satisfied with the results. All the technology has actually created a few ethical dilemmas for end of life care as families and doctors try to determine how much to intervene to keep a terminal patient alive.
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Although ethical dilemmas at the end of life have increased, the new technology has helped to answer many questions about the beginning of life. Our family has been growing quickly and my wife is expecting again. Medical technology helped us to see a beautiful ultrasound of our new child even though he or she is only 12 weeks old. We could have actually seen our baby even sooner, but it was amazing how detailed this little person already is. We watched the legs kick and the arms wave. The head was clearly visible. The picture looked like a totally formed baby, just smaller. It looked like a baby because this person is a baby. Though we already have our hands full with our other three boys, we are excited to welcome this new child into our home soon.
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If for some reason we were not able to care for this child, there are many couples who would love to have a new baby but are unable to. My cousin and his wife were such a couple and now they have both a son and a daughter because two biological mothers chose life and adoption.
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We are not considering putting our new baby up for adoption, but my wife’s grandmother did. My mother in law was adopted by a loving couple after her teenage mother gave her up for adoption. She was able to benefit from the love of a mother who carried her to term and then gave her to another loving mother who raised her. Because Grandma Pam chose life so many years ago, we were able to see her great-grandchild on a 12 week ultrasound.
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Luke chapter 1 talks about Elisabeth being six months along in her pregnancy and in vs. 41 it says the baby leaped in her womb. The Bible is clear that what is in the womb is a life, not just tissue. Psalm 51:5 and 139:13-14, Exodus 21:22-25, and Job 31:15 all show that a pregnancy is a human life.
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As I write this, I understand that not all readers will share my views or even the Bible’s views on this matter. I do have one request though. If you ever find yourself overwhelmed with the news of a pregnancy, please get an ultrasound from a doctor who regularly does them so that he is able to get the sort of quality images that we saw. Take a look at what is growing inside of you and see how wonderfully amazing that little life really is.
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Then if you are still overwhelmed, do not feel ashamed of giving a baby up for adoption if you are unable or just too busy to care for him/her. We should not view adoption as a selfish choice at all. It gives childless couples the opportunity to be parents and it gives babies life. It gave my mother-in-law life. Thank you grandma Pam.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Grace For The Mess of Sin
We have three little boys who all share one room. That means that not only do all three sleep there, but there are also three dressers and clothes for three boys all in one room. The two oldest ones are just learning how to dress themselves, so as they search for clothes, they can often create a lot of disarray. Further they often drag things into their room that don’t belong there. Lets face it, the nursery becomes a mess.
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Well, my wife decided to tackle that mess. She put everything back in its place and the nursery once again looked neat and orderly. In the process though, she took aome things that did not belong there and temporarily moved them to the dining room until they could be sorted. Because the dining room was now a mess, I did not even notice how nice the nursery looked.
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My wife had worked hard and had gotten the nursery really nice, but because that mess had simply been transferred to another room, her hard work went largely unnoticed.
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Man often does the same sort of thing with sin. We might gain victory in one area, simply to realize that other sins have gotten worse. We then clean up those areas and find the first area is dirty again. Suddenly we realize that the battle against sin is like trying to keep every last leaf out of our yard in the fall while the wind in blowing.
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The apostle Paul understood that struggle when he wrote in Romans 7:15, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” He is admitting that he ends up doing some of the things that he preaches against and ends up sinning even though he hates sin. The passage continues as the Apostle shares very personal thoughts about his inward struggle with sin. You can almost feel his frustration as you read his writing. I know I feel it myself as I examine my own life and my struggles with the sin nature.
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After understanding that apostles and pastors still struggle with sin, what kind of hope do any of us have? Paul himself seemed to ask that same question before answering it himself. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24) The answer comes in the very next chapter of Romans as he finally writes: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
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The point is, we cannot be sinless. Our only hope is in Christ, and as we trust Him and walk in His Spirit, we no longer have to worry about condemnation even though we are sinners. Of course Paul was not saying that this gives us license to sin. Consider his earlier clarification on this, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2)
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God’s grace is not an excuse to sin, but it is a wonderful hope to all of us as we inevitably fall into sin even after we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. As we walk in submission to the Spirit of God, let us remember the wonderful hope of His grace. “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” (Romans 5:20)
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Well, my wife decided to tackle that mess. She put everything back in its place and the nursery once again looked neat and orderly. In the process though, she took aome things that did not belong there and temporarily moved them to the dining room until they could be sorted. Because the dining room was now a mess, I did not even notice how nice the nursery looked.
-
My wife had worked hard and had gotten the nursery really nice, but because that mess had simply been transferred to another room, her hard work went largely unnoticed.
-
Man often does the same sort of thing with sin. We might gain victory in one area, simply to realize that other sins have gotten worse. We then clean up those areas and find the first area is dirty again. Suddenly we realize that the battle against sin is like trying to keep every last leaf out of our yard in the fall while the wind in blowing.
-
The apostle Paul understood that struggle when he wrote in Romans 7:15, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” He is admitting that he ends up doing some of the things that he preaches against and ends up sinning even though he hates sin. The passage continues as the Apostle shares very personal thoughts about his inward struggle with sin. You can almost feel his frustration as you read his writing. I know I feel it myself as I examine my own life and my struggles with the sin nature.
-
After understanding that apostles and pastors still struggle with sin, what kind of hope do any of us have? Paul himself seemed to ask that same question before answering it himself. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24) The answer comes in the very next chapter of Romans as he finally writes: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
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The point is, we cannot be sinless. Our only hope is in Christ, and as we trust Him and walk in His Spirit, we no longer have to worry about condemnation even though we are sinners. Of course Paul was not saying that this gives us license to sin. Consider his earlier clarification on this, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2)
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God’s grace is not an excuse to sin, but it is a wonderful hope to all of us as we inevitably fall into sin even after we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. As we walk in submission to the Spirit of God, let us remember the wonderful hope of His grace. “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” (Romans 5:20)
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