February 10, 2018 Proverbs 7:4-5 Where is dignity truly found?

Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"

And call understanding your nearest kin,

That they may keep you from the immoral woman,

From the seductress who flatters with her words.

Proverbs 7:4-5 NKJV

A few days ago I was listening to a story of a person's desire to "die with dignity". The person who walked with this family through this journey is called an "escort". Immediately, because of the word "escort" there was for me the clear connection between prostitution and the desire for death. Please understand, I am going to speak very directly and openly here. My goal is not to wound further, but to give those who are suffering the hope that there is refuge in the arms of our Father in heaven. There are believers who will stand with you, grieve with you and walk in the path of life and truth.

To begin with, according to the Bible, men and women are created in the image of God. Our lives, from conception to natural death, are precious in the sight of the LORD. God knit us together in the womb. We are His. Our joys and our sufferings are sanctified, made holy and purposeful, because of the cross of Jesus Christ. The Spirit is the deposit guaranteeing the salvation of those who believe and follow Jesus Christ.

In this story I was listening to, the escort spoke flattering words of the manner of death. The escort seduced this family with the hope of the end of suffering and the peaceful rest that would follow. The media continues this lie by reverent interviews and soft music and playing on emotions as if this were a beautiful event instead of the violent rebellion against God which assisted death really is.

The Bible teaches us that life is a gift. Life and death away from God are the path to hell and destruction. There is no death with dignity if God is not in the picture. We do not have the right to commit suicide. It is right and proper for society to be horrified at the suicide rate of returning soldiers or teen-agers. So too should each person be horrified at the desire to kill off pre-born children or those who are ill, depressed, or deemed inconvenient.

What the media neglects to portray is the wounds left in the heart of women who undergo abortions. What the media wouldn't speak of is the anguish of men who do not have a say in the life of their pre-born child who is killed, perhaps without their knowledge or consent. After an abortion the media wants women to continue to talk as escorts, as if abortion were okay, and not tearing up their soul.

The media won't talk of the guilt and tremendous grief that friends and family members experience amid the wreckage which suicide or assisted death inevitably brings. After assisted suicides the media wants the family to prostitute their souls and speak as if there were great dignity in this all.

Wisdom tells us that God knows our deepest sorrows and our heaviest burdens. Understanding, which the Spirit gives us through faith in Jesus and reading the Word, teaches us that every life is valuable and every moment of life has dignity because the person is made in the image of God. We are stamped with God's claim on us--we are not our own, but are to live and die with the great purpose of showing we belong to God.

Followers of Jesus Christ, arise. Walk with those who are distressed and in crisis because of a pregnancy. Believers, speak of the fact all people are made in the image of God, life is precious because each person is made in the image of God. We are stamped as precious in His sight. Comfort those who experience suffering. Sit in uncomfortable places and times with those who need community.

God of life blessed be Your Name for the sanctity of life. Great and glorious are You, LORD Jesus Christ because You have shown the height, the depth, the breadth and the width of Your love for every single person--from the child in utero to the person breathing the last gasps of breath. Spirit of God forgive us Christians for our towering silence and for our all too often absence from the places of crisis and need. Embolden us as believers to go to the places of greatest need and by our presence to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Amen.