Bob and Pat were serving as missionaries in the Philippines when she became pregnant. They had been praying for a son whom they could name Timothy after the young man that the Apostle Paul introduced to Christ, who ended up joining Paul in ministry from his second missionary journey on, and who was left in charge of the work at Ephesus and Asia Minor. Pam was taking a series of aggressive antibiotics to combat amebic dysentery when she discovered the pregnancy. She immediately stopped the medicine but the doctors advised an abortion because of the irreversible damage the drugs had presumably caused. Pam recalls how they told her it was “just a mass of fetal tissue.” But, as a Bible-believing (and behaving) Christian, Pam knew that what was in her womb was not just “fetal tissue,” but the life of a pre-born human being so couldn’t go through with an abortion, knowing she would be ending that life within her.
Six months into the pregnancy, she was hospitalized for excruciating pain when doctors said the placenta had detached from the uterine wall. Again she was counseled to have an abortion as doctors warned of the dangers to her own health and predicted the pregnancy would end in stillbirth. Pam still resisted, just not believing that it was right to take a life—even to save hers! Two months later, on August 14, 1987, future Heisman Trophy winner, Timothy Tebow was born! In December of 2007, Tim became the 73rd Heisman winner and the first sophomore to ever receive this prestigious award. When the 6 feet 3 inch, 235 pound quarterback of the Florida Gators, nicknamed “Superman” by Gator fans, embraced the 25-pound bronzed statue with his massive hands, He said, “I’d just like to first start off by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave me the ability to play football, and He gave me a great family…”
Tragically 45 years ago today, on Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to make it legal for women to abort their unborn child at any time throughout their entire nine months of pregnancy for any reason. Since that fateful decision by five out of nine individuals some 62 million “Tim Tebows” have never seen the light of day. Approximately one out of three babies never reaches their earthly destination. Today we are missing from our nation millions of doctors, teachers, scientists, entertainers, athletes, politicians, lawyers, laborers, nurses, artists, inventors, musicians, pastors, evangelists…all missing from our country. We are a great nation, one that has been greatly blessed by God, but how can we expect to continue to be blessed when we kill every third child He sends to us? I believe you can tell much about a nation by the value they place on human life—at every stage, from conception through old age. “America stands for liberty, for the pursuit of happiness, and for the unalienable right of life. The most basic duty of government is to defend the life of the innocent. Every person, however frail or vulnerable, has a place and a purpose in this world. Every person has a special dignity. The right to life cannot be granted or denied by government, because it does not come from government. It comes from the Creator of life” (past President, George W. Bush). The Supreme Court by its fateful decision on Jan. 22, 1973, violated the intent of the Constitution which is supposed to protect the right to life. “It is not a choice, it is a life!”
We are living in a crazy time when almost daily, somewhere in our country (today included—at a school Texas) shootings occur and there is the constant threat of terror attacks—but the most dangerous place by far is in the womb of a pregnant woman! The chance of being killed by an abortionist is about 33%! There has been a total of about 1.2 million American war casualties from the Revolutionary War through Afghanistan, and we grieve over each one, for it meant the loss of a son or daughter, husband or wife, father or mother, brother or sister. But just think that we—calling it “pro-choice” have lost about 62 million young lives that never had a chance to grow up and become part of our earthly family and contribute to our society.
The Psalmist wrote: “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them…” (Psa. 127:3-5a). Children are the one blessing from God that we chose to limit and often eliminate!
Pray for our governing leaders, especially our Supreme Court, that they will once again understand the value of every life, and make the biblical and constitutional decision to uphold life from conception on. If we are not “pro-life,” we are “pro-death.” God is for life—He created it. Concerning life, David wrote: “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body, and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!” (Psa. 139:13-16 from The Living Bible).
Forever His,
Pastor Dave
Wisdom of The Week 