Reimagining Pro-Life: 30 Days With Save the StorksSampel

HEART //

At this point in the book of Jeremiah, God steps in and speaks to the kings (Jehoiakim and Josiah) that are leading the nation of Judah. He rebukes Jehoiakim for the unrighteous, unjust means that he is using to build his palace. Josiah, on the other hand, has begun to fight for the weak, the needy, and the vulnerable people in Judah, revealing his desire to establish righteousness and justice throughout the land. And so God declares that it is Josiah who knows Him, for all human righteousness and justice stem from the nature of our Creator, God.

God defends the weak, the needy, and the vulnerable. It is what He does because it is who He is. We, too, must defend these people. It is what we do because He is the One who we worship. If we know and love God, we can’t help but help those in need.

Could there be a weaker, more needy, or more vulnerable human being than an unborn child? Could there be a soul more anxious, a heart more conflicted, than that of a mom who feels like she has no choice but to end the life of her own baby? God grieves the fact that women and children everywhere are hurting in many ways. He doesn’t stop at heartbrokenness, though. In the story of Josiah, we see that God’s grief always drives Him to action! 

Describing the way that the early church honored the image of God, intrinsic to all human beings, author and pastor Tim Keller says, “They were not [a] one-issue people.” They tried to alleviate the suffering of every group of people. “At that time, most people said that if you are a widow, you’ve got to remarry. [Believers] were champions of women; they were champions of orphans; they were champions of the weak; they were champions of the poor. And they were against abortion. And they put the rest of the culture to shame because of their belief in the sanctity of life.”

Surely, the issues of injustice in our world are deep and complex, and it may take generations of change to make a dent in the problems at large. Still, Christians must take action. Because we believe in an all-powerful, compassionate God, we must serve the weak, the needy, and the vulnerable. We defend unborn children and their mothers because that’s what God does.

// WORK 

There are many ways that we can take up the cause of others. We can be educated on the issues in local communities, around the nation, and throughout the world. We can joyfully adjust our consumerist ways, prioritizing the needs of others over our own luxuries. 

Let’s take up the cause of abortion-vulnerable women today in a practical way. Share an online resource that champions mothers. It could be one of our blog posts with a focus on real freedom of choice, or an article that another pro-life ministry has published. You could share it publicly via your favorite social media, or you could simply text a link to a close family member or friend. You don’t even have to send it digitally! You could read an article aloud to your kids or a neighbor. 

Here’s the point: as you forego negative speech this week, make sure that love, that encouragement, is flowing from your lips. The opposite of negative speech is not silence — though the Bible does commend the ability to be slow to speak! (See passages like James 1:19.) As we saw in today’s verse, speaking like Christ, in defense of the defenseless is part of knowing God more! What a joy and honor!