May 22, 2018

As a nurse, I belong to the most trusted profession in the United States (according to Gallup polls). I take that trust very personally. I want to be trusted; therefore, I want the information that I share with patients or clients to be accurate and truthful and based on evidence from credible, independent, well-done research studies—so that my voice will be a voice of truth.

My daughter’s recent pregnancy and delivery of a beautiful and healthy baby girl—another masterpiece by God’s hand—spurred me to do further research into an area of nursing that I have been a part of for over 26 years: Obstetric and Newborn Nursing. Although I am required to stay current with the protocols of the healthcare system where I am employed, my research indicated that some standard (“routine”) care given is not necessarily evidence based. I found this very disturbing.

But, should I be surprised when society burns with half-truths and lies? We live in a world where wrong things are considered right, and right things are considered wrong.

God’s Word, the Voice of Truth, beckons us to do as the Bereans did, to examine the Scriptures to see if the things that Paul taught were really true (Acts 17:11). We must live as the Bereans did, testing everything against the plumb line of God’s Holy Word.

Since 1973, when abortion was accepted as a legal alternative to pregnancy, healthcare professionals have been confronted by an ever-increasing number of morally challenging life issues—and the list of ethical dilemmas continues to grow: in vitro fertilization, cloning, fetal experimentation, organ donation and transplantation, nutrition and hydration, patient rights, certain sterilization practices, looming rationing of medical resources, assisted suicide and euthanasia, and stem cell research with its promise of advances in the treatment of disease.

How does this myriad of biotechnology and life issues measure up to God’s plumb line? We cannot let ourselves be spoon-fed with whatever “supposed” truths the media, corporate government, researchers/scientists, pharmaceuticals, special interest groups, or society at large want us to believe. It is imperative that we research and seek out the “real” truth, then search the Scriptures and ask God to reveal to us His good and perfect will.

From God’s Word we know this:

God created us! “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb … My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place … 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, 15-16 NIV).

Murder is wrong! “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13 NIV).

Our body is not our own; we were bought at a price! “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20a NIV).

 Just because something “can” be done, does not mean it “should” be done. “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12 NIV).

We are to speak! “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute” (Proverbs 31:8 NIV).

Expose the truth! “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11 NIV).

The question remains, how does science and biotechnology and all its avenues, such as in vitro fertilization, cloning, fetal experimentation, and aborting babies for the sake of stem cell research to make vaccines for diseases that are not even life-threatening, stack up to God’s voice of truth?

God’s Word resonates loudly the truth that EVERY life is a human being, SOMEONE created by GOD, and redeemed by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, and called into a relationship with God by the Holy Spirit. As Gospel-motivated voices for life, we MUST do our research, measure it against God’s plumb line, and speak up to expose the lies, and proclaim the truth—God’s VOICE of TRUTH!

Dear Heavenly Father, please help us to proclaim Your Voice of Truth to this broken, fallen world. Amen.

Faith and truth and life bestowing,
Open now the Scriptures, Lord,
Seed to life eternal sowing,
Scattered on the wind abroad.
Let not hearts, Your Word receiving,
Like a barren field be found,
Choked with thorns and unbelieving,
Shallow earth or stony ground.

May the Spirit’s pow’r unceasing
Bring to life the hidden grain,
Daily in our hearts increasing,
Bearing fruit that shall remain.
So in Scripture, song, and story,
Savior, may Your voice be heard.
Till our eyes behold Your glory
Give us ears to hear Your Word.

Faith and Truth and Life Bestowing – Lutheran Service Book 584 – © 1997 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.