Yesterday was the first day of the Fort Lauderdale 40 Days for
Life's prayer vigil at the All Women's Medical Center located at 2100 E.
Commercial Blvd. I signed up for the twelve noon hour and upon arrival, found
only one other 40 Days for Life (40DL) volunteer at the clinic.
Unfortunately, when she left, I was the only 40DL volunteer
for the next hour and a half. (Please go to the prayer vigil website, www.40daysforlife.com/fortlauderdale
and sign up to join the vigil. We need more intercessors!)
The imposing black metal gate remained shut today as the
clinic was closed, presumably in observance of Yom Kippur, or the Day of
Atonement. The Day of Atonement is the holiest day of the year for those of the
Jewish faith, a day of fasting, prayer and repentance.
It is ironic that a business that majors in shedding innocent
blood of unborn children (abortion) would be closed on the Day of
Atonement.
The shedding of blood was central to the Day of Atonement. (See
Leviticus 16.) As J. Barton Paine has written,
"An atonement is, literally a 'covering,' a ransom that
averts one's punishment... atonement
furnished a covering over the sin, provides an intervening sacrifice to bear
the punishment that would otherwise fall upon us, should God 'see through to
our sin.'"
Of course, Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of what was foreshadowed
by the Day of Atonement. As the writer to the Hebrews says of Christ,
He did not enter [the Holy of Holies] by means of the blood of goats
and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood,
thus obtaining eternal redemption...the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, [will] cleanse our
consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living
God! (Hebrews 9:11-14 NIV)
That
is why we pray in front of the All Womens Center. Abortion is a gospel issue. The gospel can
change the heart of an abortion minded mother to make a life affirming
decision. The gospel can change the heart of those who participate and are
invested in the abortion industry. The gospel alone provides the hope of
forgiveness, healing and restoration for the post-abortive.
Only God can bring this about.
That is why we fast and pray. The words of the prophet Azariah to King Asa of
Judah, (2 Chronicles 15:2)
“The Lord is
with you when you are with him.
If you seek
him, he will be found by you.”
The ten foot
high black fence that surrounds the entrance and parking lot of this abortion
facility is intimidating. Apparently designed to secure the privacy of those at
work inside. But I prayed, alone, out loud, very loud, to an empty building -
knowing that a ten foot high black metal fence, as impregnable as it looks, cannot
keep out the Spirit of God, and the building, though closed for business, might
not be empty. After all, abortion is a satanic enterprise (John 8:44), so
should any of his legions be within hearing of my voice, I shouted, among
others Scriptures, these words from the Apostle Paul,
For in
Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you
have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and
authority...having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
(Colossians
2:9,15 (NIV)
A Day of
Atonement message to the All Women's Medical Clinic.