Jeff and Ed had been neighbors for seven years. They had talked together in their backyards and had become good friends as they helped remodel each other’s basements. Occasionally they baby-sat each other’s children.
Not long ago, Jeff learned that he had a kidney disease, and it developed rapidly. The treatments the doctors were giving him weren’t helping, and Jeff was loosing ground. In December, the doctors had to tell him that he soon would die . . . unless they could find a donor kidney. That was his only hope.
What would you do if you had a life-threatening disease? Maybe at this point you feel you’re in the clear. Not so fast. What about the life-threatening disease called “sin”? Yes, you have it. God tells us in His Word that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). And the results? “The wages of sin is death” - eternal judgment.
Are you going to just let it go and not worry about the results? Or, on the other hand, maybe you’re trying everything you can think of to help yourself - doing your best to be honest and fair, helping your fellowman, giving money to your church and maybe even to a charity or two. The Bible, God’s written authority, says you’re losing ground. Being saved from your sins is not accomplished by anything you can do. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:89). You are at the same point that Jeff was. Jeff ’s only hope was IF they could find a volunteer willing to donate a kidney whose blood type matched his. There is hope for you too, and it involves blood - not yours - but a Volunteer’s.
One by one, all of Jeff ’s family went in to be tested to see if one of them could donate a kidney for Jeff, and one by one they were all rejected when not one of them matched Jeff ’s blood type. The possibility of a transplant didn’t look good now that Jeff ’s relatives were ruled out.
Neighbor Ed heard about Jeff ’s need and volunteered to be tested.
A few days later Jeff ’s phone rang. It was Ed. “What do you think?” Ed asked, thinking Jeff had already heard.
“What are you talking about?” asked Jeff.
“My test results,” said Ed. “Everything’s a go. The doctor can schedule it for March 5.”
Jeff started to cry. What a precious gift! And from a neighbor, a good friend who was volunteering to step in to save his life at a great cost to himself !
Another precious gift is available to save you from your disease of sin. Another Volunteer, the Lord Jesus Christ, went to Calvary’s cross at the greatest possible cost to Himself. There He died for you and shed His blood so that you could be washed clean of all your sin. “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son [cleanses] us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). You may receive that precious gift right now - no need to schedule it for a future date.
March 5 came, and the surgeries went well for both men. That evening Ed hobbled into Jeff ’s hospital room pushing an IV pole. When Jeff caught sight of Ed, he sobbed and grasped his neighbor’s hand. “I love you,” he told Ed.
“I love you,” Ed told Jeff, and he was crying too.
Jeff had gratefully and thankfully received the precious gift of life from his friend. Now it’s your turn. Will you do the same with that precious gift of eternal life the Lord Jesus has for you? He loves you and is waiting for you to say “yes.” “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)).
ML-07/07/2002