In His Image

16 Feb

For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting:
from every animal I will demand it,
and from one man in regard to his fellow man
I will demand an accounting for human life.

If anyone sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
For in the image of God
has man been made.  (Gn 9:5-6)

One of the hardest values to teach, it seems, is the value of respect for life.  As we do with everything in life, so many people seem to place varying values to life as they see fit.  They value the life of a spouse or friend but do not value the life of a condemned prisoner.  They value the life of a neighbor but they do not value the life of the critically ill.

We make distinctions that tell the world that, while life is sacred and special, life can also be taken because, apparently, sometimes it is not sacred or special.  Sometimes, life does not matter.

We see that in all sorts of crimes against life:  abortion, genocide, euthanasia, doctor-assisted suicide, capital punishment, starvation, poverty, et cetera.

The covenant that God made with His people was all-inclusive.  He did not say that “all life is sacred — except.”  No.  He said that all life is sacred “for in the image of God has man been made.”

That, in itself, should be enough.

But it is not.

Crimes against life still abound on a daily basis.

My friends, let me be clear as God was clear:  All life is sacred — from conception to natural death.  If you propose anything else, you are deluding yourself.

FAITH ACTION:  Pray that all people will have a respect for all life:  from conception to natural death.