Day 270: Abortion

Revelation 14; Esther 5:1-6:13; Psalm 106:24-48

It is hard to understand the difference between the 144,000 that surround Jesus in this chapter and can learn the song, and "every race, tribe, language, and nation that receive the message about Jesus just a few verses later. The first part makes it sound like only 144,000 get the privilege of worshiping Jesus, however, if that is the case, that contradicts John 3:16 which says "whoever believes in him," not specifying that they must be virgins, Jews, priests. Interesting.

The next part of this contrasts the treatment of those that follow the beast and those that follow Jesus. Those that have the mark of the beast and worship him "will never be able to rest," while those have faith in Jesus "will rest from their hard work." It is hard to imagine complete rest, or peace, because on this Earth we have so much that tugs at our heart, our attention, our worries. I think of a time in my life when I was SO stressed out: I was physically tense, emotionally stretched, crying, and felt completely hopeless. These people that this scripture refers to that worship the beast will feel like that FOREVER. That is horrible! I pray that no one experiences that! But God's people will rest and the command is this: "God's people must learn to endure. They must also obey his commands and have faith in Jesus." During these times, it is going to be tough. Lives will be lost, the world will be crumbling, Christians will face persecution like has never happened before. We will need to endure and have faith to make it through such times. But why? What would be the point in persevering? Scripture promises: "the Lord will bless everyone who has faith in him when they die...they will be rewarded for what they have done." Awesome. The trials we endure in this life are not worthless. We are demonstrating our love and faithfulness to a God who sees us and loves us and wants to reward us.

In the story of Esther, Haman is completely wrapped up in himself. He demonstrates what happens when we seek to boast and brag and honor ourselves. We end up being humiliated. This is just like the parable that Jesus told about the banquet and not placing ourselves in the place of honor or we will be disgraced. Haman had to pretend to honor the very man he wanted to kill. Yet again, we see God at work. I truly believe that God kept the king restless that night so that we would read the records and be reminded of Mordecai. God was working out his plan to save his people.

I'm so glad I read this psalm; it is a reminder that God disgusts the killing of children. Just listen to these words: "Then they fell into the trap of worshiping idols. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons and to the gods of Canaan. Then they poured out the blood of these innocent children and made the land filthy. By doing such gruesome things, they also became filthy. Finally, Lord, you were angry and terribly disgusted with your people." Killing children: I cannot help but think of abortion when I read this psalm. People are fighting for the right to kill their children. Whether a child is 10 weeks old in the womb or 10 years old, it is still the child of two humans and it seems that to argue that 10 weeks old in the womb isn't really "life" is simply a way to justify destroying it. As followers of Jesus, we need to make sure that we value life. How a baby is conceived should be a beautiful thing, but even if it is not, we must trust that God has a plan for that life. God hates the killing of children. Period.