TODAYS BIBLE READING:
 

Not too long ago, a 17-year-old in the Netherlands was euthanized according to her wishes. She was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the Netherlands, children as young as 12 may be euthanized at their request if a physician deems their suffering to be "unbearable with no clear resolution in sight". "Inside Edition" reported that more than 6500 people died through legal euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2017. Recently, an elderly woman had requested physician-assisted suicide but changed her mind just prior to the procedure. Rather than abandoning the procedure, the physician had the family members hold the patient down as he continued with the procedure. This is a power that physicians should not have the right to carry out.

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We read in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." We have so elevated our own intellect, our own ethics, and morals, that to our ruin, people have elevated themselves over God. In their foolishness, when it comes to many of the morally hot topics of the day, people foolishly feel they hold the moral high ground over God. The conclusion of Judges which details a period of moral decline in the nation of Israel, said in Judges 21:25, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." As smart as we think we are, we are not that smart. As moral as we think we are, we are not that moral. We read in Proverbs 14:15, "The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps." People mistakenly trust their feelings and their sense of right and wrong more than God's perfect Word. We read in 14:22, "Do they not go astray who devise evil? But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good." Many would argue that things like euthanasia, or transgender, or legalization of drugs, etc. are not evil, they only care for and love the people who desire such things. But only God gets to decide what is evil and what is good. Anything opposed to the goodness of God is indeed evil. We read the truth in 14:27, "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death."

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Everyone who elevates themselves over the will of God, according to His Word, is in fact playing God. We can place blinders on if we so desire, but the moral decline of our nation and our world is occurring at breathtaking speed. We can choose to ignore the headlines all we want, but this is the reality we find ourselves in. To those who like to argue on behalf of euthanasia, how do you know whether or not that struggling individual might have accepted Christ's invitation for heaven if allowed to live one more day? Their earthly torment would then have led to heavenly bliss, rather than a continuation of their torment in hell. Only God has the right to create life and only God has the right to decide when it ends.