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Jesus summarized His ministry, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9,10).

Last month James Harrison died. Unless you read the news story (link below) you've probably never heard of him. I sure hadn't. His name might be confused with an actor (Harrison Ford) but his work had far, far more impact.

He is credited with saving more than 2 million babies through decades of regular blood and plasma donations. His blood contained a rare antibody used to make the medication anti-D, which is given to pregnant women whose blood might attack their unborn babies. Without it, babies may develop hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN), a blood disorder that can be fatal.

Known as the "man with the golden arm", Harrison donated his blood and plasma 1,173 times, never missing an appointment for more than 60 years until he "retired" in 2018 at the age of 81. His record of giving without missing is remarkable considering travel and illness that could get in the way of an appointment.

We've both been blood donors for many years and certainly hope our donations have helped save lives, yet our story is not nearly as dramatic as that of James Harrison.

So this prompts a question. How many lives have been saved by the blood of Christ? * ¹

This last Sunday we had Communion in our worship service and we joined the early church, the church throughout the ages and the faithful church of our day in proclaiming our faith in the broken body and shed blood of our Savior Jesus Christ as God’s atoning sacrifice for our sins. We proclaimed "Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed His own blood for my soul". (From the hymn "It Is Well").

When we have Communion we remember the One who gave His blood on our behalf. There are those who want to remove or de-emphasize the blood from the Christian faith. Theymay say, "We are too modern for that". But to do so strikes at the very heart of God’s redemption plan.

All through the church's history songs have been written extolling the shed blood of Christ. In the 1700's, long before any of us were around, a new song was penned, “There is a fountain filled with blood” by William Cowper. Of course that's an old song now!*²

Early in our days of serving Christ we sang a new song written by Andre Crouch titled, "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power" and it certainly hasn't! Interestingly Crouch wrote this song when he was around 20.

For the last several years we have enjoyed a newer song titled, "Thank You Jesus for the Blood" which we sang last year at our Good Friday service. We began our message today with the chorus of that song.

Our daily text is a portion of a new heavenly song. Prior to the lyrics we have this note from Rev. 5: "And they sang a new song". So we will have some new songs in heaven!

I presume we only have a portion of the lyrics (at least most songs are a lot longer than this) and of course we don't have the tune. I am quite sure it will be epic though.

Today I am so thankful to Jesus Christ who was slain, and by His blood He ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and made them a kingdom and priests to our God. I’m grateful that He willingly and lovingly shed His blood for our sins.

In donating our blood Brooksyne and I subject ourselves to an hour or so of our time, the minor discomfort of a needle and a very slight weakening of our body until our red blood cells recover. Jesus shed His blood and died for those He saves. Jesus agonized on the Cross in indescribable pain prior to His atoning death. He gave His all. Today let us live for the One who gave His life as a ransom for many and shed His precious blood and died for us!

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13

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