THE CALLED

In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Jeremiah 1:4-5 reads:

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were bon I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

It’s obvious that God conceives of us in the spirit before we are conceived in the flesh. The scientific inquiries always surround the idea of when we become human, after we conceived in the womb. When, during the development process, as a mass of cells, as an embryo, as a fetus, do we become human?

Becoming a human is important to governments, because it’s when an individual becomes human that he or she acquires rights and privileges, as defined by government. Becoming a human is important to doctors, then, because a health care professional may freely destroy masses of cells, but must account for the death of a human. These are difficult legal issues.

But the scriptural notion is much more fundamental and infinitely clearer: we are human when God conceives of us. We, in fact, come into being at the time that he knew us, before were “formed in the womb” and set aside.

When God sets us aside for a purpose, whether we are conceived in the womb at that time, or whether we are not, it is at that moment that we become a reality. So when human elements come together to create life, we re human. We do live.

Isaiah 44:2 Thus said the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.

Isaiah 44:24 Thus said the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb. . .

No human has the right to terminate the life that God has created. And that is the legal and political nexus. Do we have human civil rights if we are only cells? Are we citizens with rights, just cells to be disposed of? If we’re humans we have rights, privileges, and protections. If we’re cells, we have no protections on any level.

It is imperative that we cling to God’s word, the meaning of His word, and protect the unborn and the elderly. We are all chosen, all called. God conceives of each of us for a purpose. Each child conceived and each elderly person who lives on, has a purpose among us that must be accomplished. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.

Let the good work of every Christian be the preservation of the life of the appointed, the chosen, the called.

©Yvette Carmon Davis, 2007