Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

    68 years ago today, July 19, I was about to end 9 months of leisure spent floating in amniotic fluid.  On July 20, 1946, I was born at Mt. Carmel Hospital on the west side of Columbus, Ohio. That 9 months of growing and being nourished within my mother is a time in my life that I've never really thought about as much as I should have.  Generally, no one begins counting days of life until we leave the protection of our mother's womb.

     But as I've grown spiritually,  and understood by faith what God has done for me, I have gained a new appreciation even for those months before I was born.

     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.------Psalms 139:13-14

     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 1:5

    Then, as recorded in the book of John:

    In reply, Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.   

    How can a man be born when he is old ? Nicodemus asked.  Surely he can not enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!

    Jesus answered,  I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the spirit.....'-----John 3:3-5

  

     When Nancy and I discovered that our three children, Wendy, Scott and Eric had been conceived, we immediately began to nurture them and renew our awe of the miracle of life, even if we wouldn't actually see them for many months.  And we were able to relive those times with even more awareness, years later, each time we learned we were going to be grandparents !

     The mystery of new life is something I'm willing to accept by faith.  As I developed and grew in Mother's womb,  God knew my name.  He knew how many days of life were ahead of me.  He knew every heartache and happiness I would ever experience.  But because I had been created in His image, I was more than just bones and blood, skin and nerves.  What set me apart was the fact I have a soul.  And I have the freedom to choose.  When I reached the age of accountability and awareness, I used that freedom at times to choose sin.  The first penalty for that sin was the eventual death of my bones and flesh, all of my physical body.  But since the soul is Eternal, there remained the potential for a second penalty, that being eternal separation from God.  But God had made provision so that, in spite of my sin, I can spend forever with Him in a new, incorruptible body.

      Shortly after Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus that I mentioned above, he said these familiar words to Nicodemus:

     For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.-----John 3:16


     And how was this brought about ?    Another miracle.  The Scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in Mary's womb, and God humbled himself into 9 months of his own residence in amniotic fluid.  He was born to die.  After 33 years of humbly ministering and healing, and revealing Himself as the son of God, a sinless Jesus was cruelly executed on a Roman cross.   God sacrificed his perfect son and counted Jesus'  blood as payment for our sins.

     You may be saying this is too heavy of a topic to be considering with my Birthday coming tomorrow.   But maybe it's just that the more birthdays I celebrate,  the more I realize it's been a long, long time since this body of mine floated in amniotic fluid.  And as enjoyable as that was, more and more I'm trying to imagine the perfect place that God has planned for us next.   And I know that I trust His promise that it's going to be with Him.