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Ideal
Donor
In
his book Written
in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a
little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion.
The doctor explained that she had the same disease the
boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only
chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who
had previously conquered the disease. Since the two
children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the
ideal donor.
“Would
you give your blood to Mary?” the doctor
asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to
tremble. Then he smiled and said, “Sure, for
my sister.”
Soon
the two children were wheeled into the hospital
room—Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and
healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met,
Johnny grinned.
As
the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny’s
smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the
tube. With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly
shaky, broke the silence. “Doctor, when do I
die?’
Only
then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated,
why his lip had trembled when he’d agreed to donate
his blood. He thought giving his blood to his sister
meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he’d
made his heroic decision. *
Johnny,
fortunately, didn’t have to die to save his sister.
Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than
Mary’s: “for the wages of sin is DEATH” (Romans
6:23). The
remedy for our sins required Jesus to give not just
His BLOOD but His LIFE.
“God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “He
gave himself for our sins to rescue us from
the present evil age, according to the will of our God
and Father” (Galatians 1:4).
“In Him we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
The
only One who could do this for us was the One who
conquered sin:
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for
us, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The
blessings of His payment for sin are given to those
who: believe
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sin in repentance
(2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized
into Him for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38;
22:16). He
will continue to cleanse those who continue to follow
Him (1 John 1:7).
Consider
what HE gave to provide for your greatest need…
Won’t
YOU respond to Him in
grateful, trusting obedience?
God bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
* Thomas Lindberg
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