A WORD FOR TODAY, June 19, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, June 19, 2025
“Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him? I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, WEB
A man named Martin Couney saved seven thousand babies. His history is uncertain. He apprenticed under an obstetrician who is known for founding perinatal medicine in Germany. There is no evidence that he ever received a medical license. He was an advocate and pioneer of neonatal technology. He was given the nickname “the Incubator Doctor” because he was known for an amusement park sideshow called “the Infantorium” that invited visitors to pay a quarter to see premature babies that were in incubators to save their lives. Along with his mentor, he opened his first exhibit of an infant warming device called a “child hatchery” at Berlin’s Great Industrial Exposition. He moved to America around 1900 and continued to display incubators at expositions. He eventually set up an attraction on Coney Island.
He, and others, were inspired by chicken incubators, and adapted them for use with human babies. The exhibitions were set up not only to show the new technology, but also to earn funds to help care for the children. Many thought this was insane because the consensus was that these children had no value. Hospitals didn’t want them and the medical community ignored them. Instead of listening to the naysayers, Couney created miracles for thousands of children. He cared for those children, gave them the dignity they deserved, and showed the world that their lives were worthy of the time and resources to give them life. By the time he closed his exhibit in 1943, most hospitals in America had adopted the incubators. His vision changed the world, not only for the thousands of babies he directly helped, but many, many more in the years since.
He believed every life was worth saving, even though the world thought those babies were worthless. The world thought those babies were mistakes, that they were too fragile and their lives hopeless. Some even suggested those babies would grow up to pass on genetic mutations to future generations, that keeping them alive was dangerous. Many bluntly said, “Let them die,” but Couney fought for their lives.
This could, and perhaps should, be a devotion about the value of every child’s life, even those who have not yet been born, but as I read the story about Martin Couney, I thought about those who have been born in flesh, but do not yet know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. Why doesn’t every believe in Jesus? Sadly, from the time Jesus walked on the earth until today, there are some who reject Him and ignore the forgiveness and eternal life He promised and won thought His life, death, and resurrection. However, there are also many who have not yet heard the Good News. It seems impossible with today’s technology to think that there is anyone (at least in the first world) that has not heard of Jesus, after all, “John 3:16” is visible in the end zone of every football game. Shouldn’t that have saved the world?
The reality is that it sometimes takes many people to share God’s Word with one person. Paul tells us that all are invited into the work of God, some planting and others watering. God does the work, but He calls us to help Him. We might look at those who, at this point, seem to have rejected Jesus and ignored His grace, and think that they are worthless, but what if you are the one God has called to do some weeding or shine some sunshine on that person’s heart. He is the one who saves, but you might just be the person who will incubate the next heart that will receive His forgiveness and eternal life. Some might even suggest, based on their lives and actions, that there is no hope for them. “They are too far gone to be saved. Let them die.”
God does not want any to die, and while there are people, too many, who will to the very end reject Jesus and His salvation, it is not up to us to make that decision. We are no more worthy of what Jesus did to win our salvation, but in God’s time and way, we have been saved. God can do the same for the most hopeless person, because He can do the impossible. He will save who He will save, so let us be the ones to give them a chance to hear and believe by sharing the Gospel with them in more than just words on a sign at a football game. Tell your friends about Jesus. Take those you love to meet Him at church. Bless them by showing them how life is better with faith, because it leads to true peace and joy. Give them hope and trust that God will give the increase. He is working in ways we might never expect, like the man who refused to let any child die that he might save.
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