Craig Clouston

 

One or the Other

August 11

He who is not with me is against me...

Luke 11:23

The young girl stood, trying to make a decision. She thought she’d settled the matter before leaving the apartment, but now, standing in front of the local Planned Parenthood clinic, she wasn’t so sure. She had decided to resolve this unplanned pregnancy by abortion, and had been told Planned Parenthood would provide the procedure at no cost. 

This morning she’d read in the Planned Parenthood abortion pamphlet, that the sixteen-cell mass, called the Morula stage of pregnancy, wasn’t a living being. But something inside her told her they were wrong. Her Sunday School teacher’s words echoed in her mind: “Life begins at conception. Even the female egg and male sperm are forms of life.” If that’s true, she admitted, then this isn’t just ‘a shapeless mass of cells’ inside me, like the pamphlet says!

Turning, she walked slowly back to her car, her earlier decision reversed. One way or another, she was going to have this baby. She’d trust God to work out the details. Right now she had to figure out how to tell her parents.

†

A modern day euphemism found on tee shirts and bumper stickers states, “If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” In other words, “If you’re not with me you’re against me.” There is no room in that statement for gray areas…you are on one side or the other.

Today’s story sheds light on one such case. Planned Parenthood offers abortions to women, many in their early teens, mindful of the fact they are killing the unborn. In the time it took me to write this devotion there have been over 300 abortions. In a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the website Conservapedia shared statistics stating that nearly 148 abortions are performed every hour in the United States alone.

There is no middle ground on this issue. Jesus told the Pharisees, “He who is not with me is against me.” On whose side do you stand?

Don’t let another child die without your voice being heard.

Prayer

“Father of Life, forgive us for such evil. Give us the courage, wisdom, and strength to handle the legal issues and moral perversion involved in such a horrendous crime. Help us reach those who casually and heartlessly end life without conscience. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”