Blood-donation drives challenge us with the slogan, “Give the Gift of Life,” and according to Scripture, this slogan is theologically correct. Throughout the Bible, blood represents the essence of life. And today, biologically, we understand how true this concept is. Blood carries many life-sustaining components to and from all parts of the body. It brings necessary nutrients and takes away toxins and other by-products of cellular metabolism. As it journeys through the body, it picks up carbon dioxide, which it then releases through the lungs. And then from the lungs, it picks up fresh oxygen and takes it back to the cells, making it truly a life-giving fluid.<\/p>\n
Because the blood is life, it is sacred to God, and the shedding of blood represents the shedding of life, or death. A sacrificial substitute\u2019s blood is required to cover or atone for the sinner, who is then allowed to live. Leviticus 17:11 says, “it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” This verse, written more than fourteen hundred years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, can be better understood in the light of Revelation 13:8, which speaks of our Lord Jesus as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Webster’s dictionary rightly defines atonement as the reconciliation of God and man through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ<\/em>.<\/p>\n Only the blood of Jesus has the power to go beyond covering our sin to actually cleansing us from sin, as John wrote in 1 John 1:7: “the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” And only the blood of Jesus can provide our souls with perfect peace, as Paul wrote to the Colossians in Colossians 1:20: “And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself . . . having made peace through the blood of His cross.”<\/p>\n “LORD, thank you for Your blood shed for us. We ask that You would cleanse us anew and use us to further Your kingdom this day.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leviticus 17 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spake unto Moses, saying,\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the thing which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath commanded, saying,\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0What man soever\u00a0there be\u00a0<\/em>of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>out of the camp,\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0before the tabernacle of the\u00a0LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the\u00a0LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>peace offerings unto the\u00a0LORD.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0at\u00a0<\/em>the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the\u00a0LORD.\u00a07<\/sup>And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations. 8<\/sup>\u00a0And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man\u00a0there be\u00a0<\/em>of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the\u00a0LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people. 10<\/sup>\u00a0And whatsoever man\u00a0there be\u00a0<\/em>of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0For the life of the flesh\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it\u00a0is<\/em>the blood\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>maketh an atonement for the soul.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0And whatsoever man\u00a0there be\u00a0<\/em>of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.\u00a0\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0For\u00a0it is\u00a0<\/em>the life of all flesh; the blood of it\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And every soul that eateth that which died\u00a0of itself\u00a0<\/em>, or that which was torn\u00a0with beasts, whether it be\u00a0<\/em>one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe\u00a0himself\u00a0<\/em>in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.\u00a0\u00a016<\/sup>But if he wash\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blood-donation drives challenge us with the slogan, “Give the Gift of Life,” and according to Scripture, this slogan is theologically correct. Throughout the Bible, blood represents the essence of life. And today, biologically, we understand how true this concept is. Blood carries many life-sustaining components to and from all parts of the body. It brings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5527"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16117,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5527\/revisions\/16117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}