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$316

    Joseph was sold to the Ishmeelites by his brothers for twenty pieces of silver. (Genesis 37:28)  For this pitiful and paltry sum, the patriarchs sold a brother they did not want!  How much did it cost to get rid of someone they did not desire?  Twenty pieces of silver!

    Jesus was betrayed by Judas for thirty pieces of silver - the margin of my Bible has $52.80.  (Matthew 26:14-15; 27: 3-10)  Judas later identified it as the price of  "the innocent blood."  The chief priests also recognized it as "blood money".  These thirty silver coins represented "the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value." (Matthew 27:9)  It only cost thirty pieces of silver to do away with one who was an inconvenience to them!

    The average price of an abortion in America is said to be three hundred sixteen dollars ($316).  For $316 you can rid of someone you don't want.  For $316 you can betray innocent blood and do away with an "inconvenience".  For $316 you can do what approximately one and a half million others do each year.  For $316 you can worship at the "Freedom of Choice" shrine.

    There are some things, however, which cannot be bought with money.  First, you can't purchase redemption from sin.  You can't buy peace of mind and forgiveness for a bad choice or misdeed.  Judas' example proves the point  Redemption is not found in riches, but rather in "the precious (and innocent) blood of the Christ."  (1 Peter 1:18-19; Ephesians 1:7)  Second, you can't buy exemption from responsibility.  All are accountable to God and will be ultimately judged by Him. (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10)

    Three hundred sixteen dollars ($316) is a small price for the conscience of a nation!

                                                                                   Edward L. Anderson

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