Leave no one behind...
We all say things that we don't really think about. We've all heard someone say, "Life sucks!" At some point I've probably said the same thing, but not lately.
Life doesn't suck, but life circumstances can. Life is precious. Nothing is more valuable than life. The military has a honored past putting lives at risk and spending millions to save a fellow soldier. "Leave no one behind" is in the soul of every true warrior. Life is holy; it is a gift from God.
We take life for granted, as though life is something we're all entitled to. No one is 'entitled' to life; it is a blessing and a great privilege to be alive. We fight for the weak and helpless, who have no way to protect the life they have, and this is holy work. But, are we fighting hard enough for those in ministry who have fallen, yet still have a strong desire to 'live', to serve, to love, and to bless others with the Good News of Jesus Christ? I don't care who you are, you are flesh and blood and can flat on your face just as countless saints and servants have done before you. Do we leave them behind, or do we risk everything to help and restore?
No one can create life except God. No one can completely restore the fallen except the Lord. Even so, more often than not, He uses people to heal, and restore, people. It is the most arrogant of souls that says, "That could never happen to me." Pride comes before a fall and countless are the fallen that never learned that lesson, but even so, if they are breathing, if they have life, they are restorable. They are worth the effort. God lives for them, both when they were mighty and when they have fallen.
Biological life is simple to define: are you breathing? If you are breathing you have life. If you have life you can 'live'. Doctors make decisions every day that deal with life. Might we be called upon to be the 'doctor' or 'nurse' in someone's life? Might the Lord task us to love the fallen, to put aside our daily comfort to spend time restoring those that He finds worth the effort, even if we don't see it? Life is precious to the Lord; He gave His so that we might find it, both here and there.
Leave no one behind. Ever.