March 24: Activities in the Womb

"The Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23).

Anyone familiar with political debates in America will be aware of two opposing camps on the issue of abortion, the pro- life and pro-choice camps.  The pro-life camp believes abortion is wrong because it is the murder of an innocent child and potential fully-grown human, since life begins at conception. The pro-choice camp believes the choice to abort or not to abort should be left to the woman since the baby lives in her body and she has the right to privacy. Many pro-choice people believe that abortion is wrong but would prefer the woman to make the call of whether to abort or not to abort. However some pro-choice people, in defending their position go to the extent of saying that aborting a child in the womb, especially in the early parts of the pregnancy, is not killing a human, just an embryo who is part of the body of the woman. 

What is God's view about life in the womb? Our text today and several other texts in scriptures inform us. God talked to Rebekah about the children in her womb, calling them nations and declaring the outcome of their lives after they were born. It is safe to say that God saw them as humans with unique purposes and potentials. The plans for these children predated their conception. 

This fact of a purpose known to God of children in the womb is not only revealed in today's text. It is not an isolated concept in scriptures but one that runs through the old and new testaments. Examine the following scriptures for a few instances:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:13-16)

"The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

"But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John...for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born." (Luke 1:13,15).

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:41)

"But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being." (Galatians 1:15-16)


In addition to our text today, these scriptures all emphasize one theme, that a lot of God-activity goes on before a child is born. God knows unborn children and ordains them for a purpose. He declares how their lives should be and can fill them with His Spirit from the womb. They can sense things in the womb and react to them. God separates children in the womb for unique purposes to be fulfilled when they are born. He wonderfully creates them to the specifications of what it would take for them to fulfill their purposes.

With so much activity going on in the womb, pregnant women should be seen as destiny carriers. They are carrying the future of the world and God's plan. The future great preachers, scientists, politicians, inventors, people with specific answers to the problems of the world, are residing now in the wombs of pregnant women. With the termination of any of these lives, the world loses something. Imagine if Jesus had been aborted by Mary in her first trimester. It would have been disastrous. The world would have lost a savior. 

Let today's meditation be an encouragement to you if you are pregnant. Bless your unborn child continually. Let it be an admonition if you are considering an abortion. Don't kill that nation. Don't end that destiny. God knows more about who you have in your womb than you do. Listen to Him.  Most importantly, let it be an inspiration to all that their lives are not without meaning. That you are not an accident of unprotected sex. There are no illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents.  No matter the circumstances around your conception, you were on His mind. You are not a nuisance. You are special in His plans.  Be the nation He saw you as. Before God allowed you to be conceived, He knew you and ordained you for a purpose. Get up and get on with that purpose for that's the reason you were given the privilege of life. 


Decision of the Day

I understand that God's purposes for me predates my time in the womb. I am not an accident. There is a special plan for my life. There is an end I must reach. I will rejoice and be glad. I will go on to fulfill my purpose.