The Blood

     Deuteronomy 12:23 "But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is life and you must not eat the life with the meat."
     Leviticus 17:11 "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourself on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life."
     In May of 1995, my husband, Mark, found out that he had hepititis C.  It was in his body and the doctors found this out with a little sample of Mark's blood.  They could also see that he had very high cholesterol, through a blood test. When Mark goes in for dialysis, the nurses can tell him all about how his body is functioning through a simple blood test.  These tests give them all the chemical levels and information, so adjustments can be made if necessary.  The blood is so important and it's something that most people rarely think about.
     In our family we think about it much more often because of the hepititis C.  We are very careful not to get any of Mark's blood into our body because if we did, we might take on his disease, and it could damage our body just as it has done to his. 
     Jesus gave us his perfect blood so that we can take on his life, his characteristics, his perfect mind and health.  Just one drop of blood can do a whole world of damage, or a whole world of good.  Jesus said in John 6;54 "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
     Romans 5;9 "since we have now been justified by the blood, how much more will we be saved from God's wrath through him!"
     John 6:56 "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him."
     DNA is in the blood.  It is the principal carrier of genetic information in almost every organism.  The DNA carries the inherited information, the activities of cells and thus the growth and function of the entire body.  Chromosomes determine physical and mental abilities and even personality.
     Antibodies are in the blood.  They can prevent and sometimes treat infectious disease.
     We don't know everything there is to know about our bodies and the blood, but we do know that the Bible tells us to drink the blood of Jesus.  For some, it's merely a symbolic gesture but if you have the faith and the knowledge that the Bible gives us through the Holy Spirit, the blood is a powerful thing, Romans 3:25 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through Faith in His blood."
     1Corinthians 11:29 and 30 "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks jugdment on himself.  That is why many among you are weak and sick and a number of you have fallen asleep.
     It's important that we look within ourselves, and judge our walk with God.  When we partake of the Lord's Supper we're not to do it lightly, like some kind of ceremony that has no value, but we are to revere, respect, and remember the body that was broken, and the blood that was shed.  For if Jesus had not shed his precious blood we would be a people with no hope for a future.