As we have been attending to so many births this spring, an image keeps coming to mind of the compassion that God has for us.
God says to Jerusalem, in a prophecy through Ezekiel, that no one cared for her. No one was there to cut her umbilical cord. No one was there to wash her or swaddle her. She was cast out into a open field, laying in her afterbirth. No one was there. At the most precarious, most vulnerable time not a single soul cared but God. God had compassion like no one else. Seeing her alone, crying in her blood, he proclaims, “LIVE!”
Wow! I can identify with this. This morning I came out to the barn to find a 2 lb lamb curled up, alone, covered in dried amniotic fluid. Her eyes were closed, we had no idea who her mom even was. Then we discovered a ewe had given birth to triplets but had rejected one. She had no interest in caring for this tiny lamb and had cast her into a field.
As I dry her off and warm her, encouraging her to take drops of warm milk, all I can think is, “LIVE!”
Oh, how much more does the God of the universe care for us. After he saves us and nurtures us, He pleads with us to continue make choices the lead to life. How much more does He mourn when, after all his compassion and care, we turn away and reject the life he has for us.
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No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, “LIVE!” I said to you in your blood, “LIVE!” Ezekiel 16:5–6
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