Sacrifice
When you go to the doctor for a blood test, they draw a small amount and send it to a laboratory. They analyze so many things from the blood test. It’s incredible what they can determine. It’s extremely detailed. Why wouldn’t it be? Life, quality of life, starts and ends, in this layman’s opinion, in the blood. And all of this blood is passed through your body through arteries, veins and corpuscles. And the pump that God has provided in this unique machine called the human body is the heart. And according to reliable sources, an 80 year old person will most likely have 3 billion heart beats. Impressive!
As I was reflecting on Memorial Day here in the US yesterday, I thought about the million or so men and women who died in service to the country since its founding in the 1700s. This does not count the amount of physical, emotional and mental injuries that have resulted. So many have paid the ultimate price by shedding their blood. They sacrificed their very lives because they believed in something bigger than themselves. America and all it has stood for over these 247 years. My dad and his brothers and uncles laid it all on the line during World War II. Fortunately, all of them came home.
Power in the blood
What we enjoy today, actually here in America and in many parts of the world that have benefitted from America’s belief in freedom, has been ensured by the shedding of blood. Which takes us to the church in America and around the world. History reveals so many millions of Christians who have been martyred for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here in America, when we go to church during the week, pray in public, we need to remember that someone ensured this through their sacrifice. Daily, Christians are dying for their belief in the gospel in countries all over the world.
“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Heb. 9.22 And we see that the final covenant was better than the first. “But as it is, he (Christ) has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Vs. 26b Friends, this is good news. Jesus is our substitute, our atonement, if we have received him and believed in his name. And the best news of all for those of us who are in Christ, is this. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Vss. 27,28.
Blessed by suffering
Are you eagerly awaiting his return, and are you laying it all on the line for the gospel? If so, here is what Jesus tells you. Are you prepared for his blessing? “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Mt. 5.11,12 Just as heroes in our country and heroes in the church have given their life for what they believed in, we too are called to do the same. Do you, do I, believe in the gospel so deeply that we are willing to be ‘blessed’ by suffering persecution, maybe even shedding our own blood. If so, Jesus tells us to REJOICE!!
