Words about the Word - Tom Chandler - Trinity Lutheran Church

“Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live…” Deuteronomy 30:19

For those of us who believe the Bible is God’s word there is no doubt human life is the pinnacle and the most important part of His creation. Not only are we fashioned as human beings in the image of God, but every individual is also His unique creation. “Your eyes saw my unformed substance,” “you knitted me together in my mother’s womb,” “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139)

When God bestows a blessing on people, he often uses the term “multiply.” God told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”  And before the people of Israel entered the promised land, Moses told them, “…you shall live in the land and multiply and God will bless you.” 

You can also see God’s regard for human beings in the 10 Commandments. The highest title a person can have in the world is not prophet or priest or president, it is parent. After showing us how to regard and worship the most high God, “Honor your father and your mother” is the first commandment teaching us how to live a blessed life, followed quickly by the words, “You shall not murder.”

In Biblical times, the idea that there could ever be too many people in a nation or too many children in a family would have been considered absurd. It would be like driving through the Texas hill country in the spring and saying, “There are too many wildflowers in that field.”

For people who believe the Bible, it is impossible for anything on earth to be better or more desirable than human life. Children can only ever be seen as a blessing from God. Like flowers in the field, there can never be too many children.

For others, perhaps most people, the Bible is just another book. The prevailing wisdom today seems to be that children can be burdens that prevent a person from achieving important life and career goals. Since 1960 the fertility rate in America has dropped from 3.6 children per family to 1.6 today. At the same time the number of people who report feeling lonely and bored with life has skyrocketed. Could these statistics be related?

I don’t know how my grandparents managed it, but my mother was one of 12 children. 14 people were living in one small house in a coal mining town during the years of the great depression! Yet the children were always fed and clothed and educated, and they had a fierce love for one another. I doubt the words lonely or bored ever crossed their minds. Are we actually better off today?

If you don’t believe the wisdom from God, perhaps you could ask any grandparent, “Looking back on your life, what is it that has brought you the most joy?” I’ve got some pictures on my phone I can show you, if you want to see them.

Right before the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, Moses told them to “choose life, that you and your offspring might live.” The great thing about being a Christian is that every day is a day of promise. The Bible teaches God’s regard for human life is so great that He sent His only Son, our Lord Jesus, into human flesh to be born of a woman. Jesus lived and died and rose again so that all my bad choices could be wiped away from memory. For a Christian, every day is a fresh start and another chance to “choose life!”