"This is what the Lord says: ‘For the many crimes of Ammon, I will punish them. They ripped open the pregnant women in Gilead so they could take over that land and make their own country larger. So I will send fire on the city wall of Rabbah that will destroy its strong buildings. It will come during a day of battle, during a stormy day with strong winds. Then their king and leaders will be taken captive; they will all be taken away together,’ says the Lord." (NCV)
A fictional story has been circulating on the Internet:
A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said:
'Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together.'
So the doctor said: 'Ok and what do you want me to do?'
She said: 'I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this.'
The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: 'I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you too.'
She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.
Then he continued: 'You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.'
The lady was horrified and said: 'No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!'
'I agree', the doctor replied. 'But you seemed to be OK with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution.'
The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point.
The Ammonites destroyed unborn children in order to better further their own desires. But if we focus only on unborn children, I believe we lose the point. Children are children. A child doesn’t become a child simply by passing through the vaginal canal. A child becomes a child at the moment of conception—when God Himself breathes life into the combined egg and life begins. And all children are precious.
"But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.’" (KJV)
The disciples had decided that Jesus—and they—were much too busy to be bothered with giggly, sweaty, rambunctious children and they proceeded to try to send the children away. But Jesus—the Lord of all—was "much displeased." The Greek word used here aganakteo has the connotations of being physically irritated, indignant, and also greatly grieved. The Lord was not only angry at what happened, He was grieved that His disciples would care so little for children.
The Lord loves children!
As Christians, many of us have become arrogant in our disapproval of abortion. And with that, I would heartily concur. Abortion is wrong, evil. It’s never right to kill someone for our own convenience. That being said, as Christians, we have often failed the born children just as greatly. How many larger churches are filled with paid staff pastors who sit around and do . . . whatever . . . and yet the church doesn’t have a Christian school . . . or a Christian preschool . . . or an after school program? How many of us spend thousands of dollars every year on unneeded luxuries that we "justify" having (cable TV, cell phones, Internet, vacations, multiple cars, etc.) and yet allow children in our communities to go without food, without clothing, without someone who cares?
Years ago—before I became a public school teacher—I started my concern about the millions of children in public school, most of whom have been emotionally abandoned by the adults in their lives. I went to the local pastors’ organization and suggested that each of them could volunteer a few hours one day a week at a public school simply reading to kids and listening to them. (The reason I began with the pastors is because if a pastor does something, people in his/her congregation will often follow.) Every pastor in that organization told me that he was too busy.
Too busy to give even an hour or two once a week to listen to a lonely, neglected child?
We have become too self-centered, too complacent in our "stuff" and in our own routines to understand that there are children—many, many children—who desperately need us, even for a few hours a week, just to be a friend, to be Jesus in their lives. I understand this trap. I’m "off" for the summer (me and my boxes of work that need to be done in six short week) and I’d love nothing better than to have my solitude and limited time to try to get everything done. But once a week, I invite a number of girls into my home on the pretext of helping with the music plans for next year. Are they actually helping? Of course! But like any other activity of which one is adept, it takes longer to train new people than to simply do it yourself. But that’s not the point. The point isn’t to get the job done. The point is to invest myself into the lives of these girls, to be Jesus to them when perhaps no one else will. They come into my house. They see the scriptures on the walls, on my desk. We talk about whatever is important to them. They are learning to trust me, but more importantly, they are learning to trust Jesus because it’s Him they see.
We have sacrificed our children, their children, your children so that we can have the desires—the lusts—of our hearts. We need to turn that around, we can turn that around. Even with one hour a week, the Church could make an enormous difference! If you don’t work regular hours, go volunteer at a school one day a week. If you can’t do that, help with the children at your church one Sunday a month. Start a Friday night movie night. Have a homework club after school. Invite children into your front yard for cookies. The possibilities are endless; the results are eternal.
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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