Oil or Blood?

Psalm 72:14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight (ESV)

    Believer…is thy blood precious in thou sight? We live in a time were oil has become more precious then blood. We will kill and destroy lives over the matter. We have fallen enslaved to the things of this world. We, the very ones that were given dominion over all, have become the predecessors. It is a sad day to the one who has received this revelation. The fruit of this tragedy is desolation, division and hostility amongst the people. What will it take for the most precious resource of all to take back its righteous standing? We must view blood through the lens of Christ before it will become precious again. For none is more precious than the blood of Jesus. This sacrificial love that was shed out for you and I was one of demonstration. We love because He first loved us.

    Now don’t fall into the same trap that I have thinking this only applies to the Hitler’s of this world. For even believers have lost the true value of the blood. I make this general assumption based on the condition of the body. If we truly saw the blood of another as precious, wouldn’t we go to great lengths to see to it that this precious blood would become eternal. For all around us are mortal men and women, who’s bodies are wasting away, whose blood is failing them and are in desperate need of a blood transfusion. They need the blood of Christ, to wash away their sins that they might find life, and life more abundantly. I want us to look at the life of a few men who were truly impacted by the blood of Christ, and the marks they bore in response to this divine revelation. “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor. Working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things” (1 Corinthians 4:10-13).

    Fellow servant, do you bear these marks? Have you forgotten the hands and side of Christ, pierced and wounded for our transgressions. It was upon Jesus revealing His wounds He also would commission His disciples saying, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). To be a true follower of Christ, to daily bear ones cross will come with a price. A true disciple will bear the marks, the same marks thy savior bore, to the point of no longer possessing human semblance. To share in His sufferings, His open flesh rubbing against the splintery wood of the rugged cross. And it was all because of your blood, the joy set before Him, that He so graciously endured. We must swim against the grain of our culture, no longer looking like we come from the same planet. For our citizenship is in heaven, and of that citizenship we are ambassadors. Let the precious blood of Christ be your lens for perspective, motivation and zeal as you venture out in faith.