SO MUCH BLOOD

From the outside looking in, a Christian can resemble a vampire. Or, a member of a blood-fetish organization. What is the deal of our obsession with blood?
When I first became the Lord's, I had no idea why Christ followers talked about the Blood so much. There were songs about it, there were sermons about it, and there were even prayers about it. The prayers were the creepiest to me; people would actually pray to be covered in the Blood of Jesus. I was baffled by the constant references to blood.
I knew nothing of Christianity before I gave my life to Christ. Years of Confirmation classes and even parochial school taught me little of who Christ really was, and what He should mean to me. So, when the Lord called me on that life-changing day, I was completely clueless. I was very much the child that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 18.3. I really enjoyed those days because the only thing I knew was that God was huge, and He was really in my life in a personal, apparent way. I acted on blind faith and He was able to do so much to make things right in my life. Even though this message is on blood, I find it necessary to write about one of the most important things I learned about the Lord early on. He does not force Himself on anyone. He is the utmost of gentlemen. He will always wait until you ask Him in, and then He can do a mighty work. Until then, He waits patiently at the door. He creates circumstances, but He never forces. But remember, you don't know how many days you have to open that door.
So what's with the obsession with blood anyhow? I was uncomfortable, critical, and even a little repulsed; until I found out how important that blood really is.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT?

Well, what amazingly crucial thing does Jesus Himself tell us about His precious blood?
"This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matt 26.28) I cannot even count the number of times I heard that in church, and it never meant anything to me. But read it again and think about it. This is Jesus' promise, His vow, His ultimate bonding of His children to Himself. The blood that He shed at Calvary is His precious promise to me, and to you; that the blood washes away our sins and makes us clean again. It allows the Father, who cannot look upon sin, to take in the sight of His children that He loves. Jesus' blood is truly the tie that binds.
But if that's not enough, let's look at another one. Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise Him up at the last day." (John 6.53-54)
Jesus is not referring to the occasional communion meal, where we symbolically remember these words with wafer and juice. As important a fellowship of believers time that is, Jesus is referring to so much more. He is referring to us claiming Him for who He really is. His body and blood was indeed the ultimate sacrifice that allow us to be His. His blood shed is the same blood that flows now through me. I am alive, truly for the first time, and it is because of Him. Before I accepted Christ as my Savior, and embraced His death on the cross, I was dead. Sure, I lived for work, and for fun, but I was a shell of the person God had planned for me to become. When I grasped what He did for us, when I grasped, and began to lean on the cross, I embraced the life that God had for me; and it will last forever.
Don't take my word for it; let's see what Paul had to say about this;
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him?" (Romans 5.6, 9)
Think about it.