It was time to take our two young children to the doctor for their regular checkups. Dr. Smith was a friendly man with children of his own. He knew that a doctor’s office can be a scary place for little people. So when he came into the examining room, he first spent some time talking with Sally and Jimmy so they wouldn’t be afraid of him.
We had taken Sally’s shoes off. Dr. Smith saw them sitting on the table beside her and told her what nice shoes she had. Then he told her a true story about when he was little.
He said their family was very poor, so poor that he and his brothers and sisters used to wear shoes made out of cardboard. He went on to say that his father didn’t have money to buy them toys to play with, either. Then he said, “But there was one time I’ll never forget.”
His father had a very rare type of blood. One day the hospital called his father and told him they had someone very sick who needed this rare type of blood. They asked him if he would come to the hospital to give this very sick person some of his blood.
“Yes,” he told them. And he went right over to the hospital to donate some blood.
But when he came home he brought a big surprise with him. The hospital had paid him some money because his blood was so rare. He took that money he had received for giving a little of his blood and bought his children a fine swing set.
This gift that Dr. Smith’s father had bought with the money from donating his own blood was something that had meant so very much to Dr. Smith when he was a child. And that is why he said he would never forget it. It showed him how much his father loved him and his brothers and sisters.
As the doctor was telling this story, it made us think of another loving gift that was bought with blood. God gave His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to shed His blood on Calvary’s cross for sinners. Now, Dr. Smith’s father only gave a little of his blood, not all of it; he didn’t give up his life to buy his children a swing set. But the Bible tells us that “God commendeth [proves] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8).
The Lord Jesus was the only man who was perfect and never sinned. And only His blood can wash away sins. There is none other like Him. And because He loves us so much, He gave up that perfect life to pay for our sins which were against Him. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth 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). The swing set wore out and became useless. But Jesus paid the price for something that will never grow old or wear out-He paid the price to give us eternal life. If you will come to Him with your sins and believe that His blood was shed for you, the gift of eternal life is yours! “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Revelation 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5). There is nothing else that can buy this gift that is freely offered to you. Will you accept it?
ML-12/01/1991