By John Grant
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
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‘Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14
In these turbulent economic times, it seems like each week brings more bad news….. jobs lost, homes foreclosed, retirement nests with fewer eggs and, on it goes. Where will it stop? Nobody knows. After recently looking at my retirement plan, maybe I had better re-think my senior years. Instead of cruising the Mediterranean, perhaps it will be more like bobbing a cork from a cane pole on the Withalachocche.
In the past four months, Americans have lost more than three trillion dollars in net worth. But it was a recent article in a Washington newspaper that caught my attention. It’s not just the American dollar that’s losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn’t worth what it used to be.
The “value of a statistical life” is $6.9 million in today’s dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May – a drop of nearly $1 million from five years ago. When drawing up regulations, government agencies put a value on human life and then weigh the costs versus the lifesaving benefits of a proposed rule. The less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for a regulation, such as tighter restrictions on pollution. Agency officials say they were just reporting what the science told them.
On the other hand though, the Bible believes in man’s uniqueness and in his supremacy over the rest of creation. Because he was created in an incomparable and invaluable “divine” image no amount of money can equate to the value of a human life……. Including the value of lives in being before birth.
Jesus saw no class or caste, nor should we. God created each one of us. Jesus put a special emphasis on children and for that matter, each one of us is a child of God…… none worth more than another.
Owning a beautiful home, that’s comfort. Driving a fancy car, that’s convenience. Commanding a high salary, that’s luxury. But holding my three week old granddaughter Ellie in my arms, that’s priceless and something no one can value in intrinsic worth. God did no greater work than when he created a little child.
(a thought on life from John Grant )
You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/02/18/jg_worth/