For You From The Word
If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:3, 5, NIV)
For You To Think About
Large numbers can be difficult to conceptualize.
Take 1.2 million, for instance. It’s a big number – too big for most of us to have on the balance line of our checkbooks. It’s even harder to visualize what 1.2 million people look like.
But 1.2 million is easier to get our minds around with a tangible equivalent … say, as the combined population of two states (Vermont and Wyoming.) All of the sudden we see 1.2 million in concrete terms: people, families, schools, communities, and towns. The figure represents the myriad of lives in two entire states. Now the number is personalized. It has a more measurable value.
With that in mind, consider this: how would our nation handle the loss of the entire population of two states in the span of one year?
1.2 million is not only the combined population of Vermont and Wyoming. It is also the average number of abortions in the United States in a year.
As the numbers rise, personalization is lost. Our nation’s trend is to see those lost lives in numbers, not as individual people. But each unborn child is not just a number. Each of the 1.2 million represents an individual life.
Just ask the good folks in Vermont and Wyoming.
For You To Pray
Heavenly Father,
We cry out for your mercy. Move us beyond looking at mere numbers. Pierce our nation’s heart to grasp the tremendous value of each life. Let us see every one as an individual. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
More about Cultural Attitudes
4 Trends in the Pro-Life Battle
Cultural Attitudes: Indifference towards Life
Cultural Attitudes: Desensitization