Bible Reading: Hebrews 9
Listen to Audio
Download Audio
“For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ . . . purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:13–14)?
The mosquito was famished, and she craved blood. She needed blood for the eggs she would lay, so there could be more mosquitoes, but first she must have warm, life-giving blood. Then she smelled the man. Ah! Here was blood and to spare— rivers of delicious, throbbing blood. She closed in on her target, the highpitched whine of her wings joining the hum of dozens of her sisters.
The man slapped himself and waved his arms. The thought of wasting his precious blood on one of these creatures that would use it to propagate more of her irksome kind was irritating. If she escaped his vengeful hand, she would gorge and then fly off, leaving behind an itchy welt and maybe a disease.
Later, within the shelter of his workplace, the man grew thoughtful. Although the mosquito desperately wanted it, she could not properly value the man’s precious blood. Does not mankind have the same tendency toward the blood of Jesus? At a fathomless cost, Jesus offered His precious, life-giving blood to redeem humans from their wretched, sinful condition. Although they know they need it, many people trample it carelessly underfoot, scorning the costly provision for their own salvation.
Surely, the greatest insult to the blood of Jesus is when a hypocrite professes Christianity falsely, using it as a cloak to cover a secret, ungodly life. But God will not be mocked. The life-giving blood of Christ serves only to cleanse the sins of the genuine seeker. And at the judgment, God will surely expose all hypocrisy.
What a wonderful, wonderful Saviour,
Who would die on the cross for me!
Freely shedding His precious lifeblood,
That the sinner might be made free.
—F. A. Graves
From Paws on My Porch, by Gary Miller
© 2015 TGS International, PO Box 355, Berlin, Ohio 44610
Used by permission
