The value of life

“I don’t approve of murder.”

That was one of the credos of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot.

As I read this chapter, I get the feeling that God feels the same way.

As a result, he devotes a great deal of this chapter to the topic of bloodshed.  Namely, what was to be done if blood was shed intentionally or accidentally.

Then he said,

Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land.  (Numbers 35:33)

I think we get jaded by the topic of murder sometimes, because we see it in TV dramas all the time, and even on the evening news.

But how often do you think about bloodshed polluting the land?

I don’t.  And yet it does.

Why?

Because it shows an utter disregard for the value of life.  And people who murder lose all perspective on its value.

Yet murder is only the final stage of a longer process that starts when we don’t respect the value of life.

We look down on people.  We despise them.  We hate them.

And when people hold these things in their heart, we may not murder them physically, but we murder them in our hearts.

That’s what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:21-22, when he said,

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”

Hatred of others pollutes the land.  Because hatred leads to murder in our hearts, even if it doesn’t translate into action.

In 1 John 3:15, John says,

Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

But what was Jesus like?  John continues by saying,

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:16a)

Jesus valued us so much, he gave his life for us.

He didn’t take away life.  He gave his life away.

And through his death on the cross, he gives us eternal life.

How about you?  Do you value life?

Not just in your words.  But in your heart.  In your actions.

How do we show that we value life?  John concludes by saying,

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  (1 John 3:16b)

Do we value the lives of the people around us so much that we are willing to sacrifice for them, just as Jesus did for us?