“Behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV)
Perhaps like me, you’ve heard all your life that we are supposed to weep at a birth and celebrate at a death. Despite my best research efforts, I cannot find a biblical passage that proposes crying at birth and celebrating at death. The only passage that comes close is Ecclesiastes 7:1 where the Preacher teaches that the day one dies is better than the day one is born. If you know of a different passage, please forward it to me.
In any case, it is difficult to be sad when holding a little gift from heaven in your arms. Yesterday morning at 3:13 a.m. my grandson, Grant, was born. He had no choice in the matter. The conception was effected without his consultation. No one discussed the nine months of embryonic formation with him. And no one asked him if he was prepared to be born at 3:13 a.m. on September 30, 2008. Somewhere in his future, Grant may chide his grandpa for hanging his birth out in cyberspace, for the world to consider, without asking him first.
In Ecclesiastes 3:2, the Preacher may be focused on showing the futility of human effort, but it is not a hopeless situation. The Only Wise Eternal God, Creator of the entire universe, is in control of everything, including our birth and identity. We are not some latter stage goop from the lagoon of genetic ooze. Instead, we are an individual creation from the hands of the Creator. “It is he that has made us and not we ourselves” (Psa. 100:3). Note that the Preacher did not say a time to evolve. Yes, it requires faith to believe in an omnipotent Creator, but consider the amount of faith required to believe in the enormous number of circumstantial, random events proposed by the heresy of evolutionary theory.
Of course, arguing over creation and pro-creation isn’t the issue. The fact remains that the time to be born occurs without the individual’s input, and for several years, other people make most of the decisions and choices that form our lives. However, there comes a day when we begin to make the personal decisions and choices that will form our destiny. Those choices shape who we are, how we live, and our ultimate destiny. Now if you believe in the theory of evolution, death only proposes two alternatives: return to the lagoon of ooze or evolve to a higher species. May I suggest another alternative? Acknowledge God and ask him what he requires. So what does the Creator require of you and me? Malachi 6:8 gives the answer: practice justice; both receive and give mercy; and humbly walk with him. This is not a three step self-help program, but rather an all inclusive way of living and dying.
Dear Father, thank you for the gift of our birth, both physical and spiritual. Enable every reader to know that today is the day to be born through Jesus Christ, our Savior. We know in whom we believe for the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of salvation to the believer. Empower us with faith to conquer every temptation and remain faithful to the end. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be encouraged today in the day of your birth,