Do you think everyone has a God-given right to have life? First we better understand what we mean by the word life. Good ol’ Webster’s Dictionary has much to say about this little word. Here is just the first part of its definition: “That property of plants and animals which makes it possible for them to take in food, get energy from it, grow, adapt themselves to their surroundings and reproduce their own kind.” Wow! That’s quite a mouthful. Basically, if you can eat, grow and have babies, somehow —you’s alive!

Of course Webster, even though he may be very intelligent, forgets the most important part. He fails to mention that life comes from and is given by God. The Bible tells us in Genesis 2:7, “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” So, now we know that life itself is a gift of God.

But, when exactly does life begin? If a woman has had a baby inside her for eight months, does she have life inside her? What about three months, one month or even one week? Let’s look at it from the body’s point of view. As soon as the sperm of a man and the egg of a woman come together it becomes what is called a zygote. Now, as soon as the zygote implants itself into the womb of a woman (usually at the most only a couple of days later), it begins dividing and growing.

       

         

In four short weeks many babies already have a beating heart. Leviticus 17:14 tells us that the life of every creature is its blood. Is life present inside the woman’s body at four weeks? In five weeks there are brain waves. Maybe you can remember from some of the emergency TV shows that doctors can determine if a person is alive or not by whether or not they can pick up any Signals from the brain, or brain waves. In eleven to twelve weeks the child moves, squints, swallows and can make a fist; in fact all body systems are working by this time. Isn‘t that amazing? By this time the child is easily recognized as a human being and meets all the requirements of life set up in man’s own definition of life. I think David says it so beautifully in Psalm 139:13. Perhaps you could look that up and we will continue talking about this subject in the next “Children’s Challenge.”

Memorize Psalm 139:13–16

See if you can find out which verse in each Bible chapter talks about life.

1. “For the Lord is your life.” Deut. 30:
2. “I put to death and I bring to life.” Deut. 32:
3. “For with you is the fountain of life.” Psalm 36:
4. “For whoever finds me finds life.” Prov. 8:
5. “I am the bread of life.” John 6:
6. “The Spirit gives life.” John 6:
7. “I am the way, the truth and the life.” John 14:
8. “If only for this life we have hope.” I Cor. 15:
9. “Watch you life and doctrine closely.” I Tim. 4:
10. “I will never blot this name from the book of life.” Rev. 3: