GLMX #208: Escaping the Death Penalty

Several events in recent months in the United States have raised the question of whether or not the death penalty should continue to be allowed as a form of punishment in America. Some states have said that it is becoming more difficult to obtain the drugs used in lethal injection. In Arizona, Oklahoma, and Ohio, there have been 'botched' executions -- where the person sentenced to die was not killed in short order according to procedure. These cases garnered a lot of media attention and renewed calls for the death penalty to be abolished. There have also been cases where a person on death row has been found innocent of the crime they were put there for. In fact, a recent study determined that at least 4 percent of all people sentenced to death are actually innocent.

Currently, there are over 3,000 people on death row in the United States. Can you imagine what it is like sitting on death row? Waking up every day in a cell knowing that each minute that passes puts you closer to the time when your life will be terminated by a lethal injection or an electric shock? Can you imagine living every day with a countdown ticking in your mind? 

You might shudder at the thought of that kind of existence. However, every person born into this world is sentenced to die. We are all under a death penalty. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27, "It is appointed unto men once to die." Whether you want to accept it or not, your life -- and the life of every person alive -- is slowly winding down to a point of termination. 
 
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MUSICAL SELECTION: "Love Lifted Me" by Alan Jackson