There When You Need It

Holy Land Picture of the Day

Today's picture is of the Kidron Valley, on the eastern side of Jerusalem at the foot of the Mount of Olives. It is mentioned several times in the Bible, including in the Gospel of John 18:1-3; "When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples.Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons" The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7).  (Read also Hebrews 9:11-22) In recent years, my bride and I have been regular volunteers at Red Cross Blood Banks.  That in itself is a work of God for me for I have always had an aversion towards needles and blood.   In my most recent tenure at the Blood Bank, I happened to come across an article that was titled “There When You Need It”.  There was a listing of percentages of people who have different blood types:  The most common is “O” Positive, (37.4%), followed closely by “A” Positive (35.7%).  Then comes “A” Negative (6.3%) followed by “B” Negative (1.5%). The rarest, AB Negative, is found in only one in one hundred sixty seven people, or 0.6% of the population.  But the point that really got my attention was this statement: “The rarest blood type is the one that’s not there when you need it”.  But there is another supply of blood that is 'one of a kind' and always available to those who ask for it!  First John 1:7 states, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin”.   Wow, is that not awesome?     I confess that I have a hard time understanding why a Holy and Perfect God could love me so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die on a hideous cross to open the door for salvation for me.  Why was He willing to do this?  Because it was the death of Christ – the shedding of His blood – that satisfied the demand of a holy God as payment for our sins.   The writer of Hebrews made this very clear when he wrote, “...and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all having obtained eternal; redemption”. (Heb. 9:12). Sooooo, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, “According to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Heb. 9:22).   And that is food for some deep meditation. Blessings, Gramps