When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb. (Luke 1:41)
Expanded Passage: Luke 1:39-42
In one of my pastorates, I made a hospital call one afternoon on a woman in her seventies. She was a fairly recent addition to our congregation, so I didn’t know a lot about her backstory.
As I was wrapping up our visit, she said, “Pastor, can I ask you something?”
“Certainly.”
“Do you think God could forgive someone who had an abortion?”
“Well, God can forgive any sin if a person is truly repentant.”
“I had an abortion fifty years ago,” she said, tearfully. As I write this, her confession took place more than forty years ago, so we’re talking about something that happened long before Roe v. Wade, when abortions were illegal and generally kept secret.
I could only imagine how she had suffered, carrying that guilt for fifty years. But I had the privilege of leading her in a prayer for God’s forgiveness. When we finished, she was greatly relieved. I could see it in her face.
It didn’t bring back the life of her unborn baby, but it settled her relationship with God.
We take the birth of Jesus and John the Baptist for granted. We can’t imagine it any other way. That’s because they believed in the “sanctity of life” before it became a phrase used now to indicate a high regard and high value placed on human life, even in the womb.
Give praise to God for the fact that you are alive.
Ron McClung is a retired minister in The Wesleyan Church. He lives in Michigan and has two sons, two outstanding daughters-in-law, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
