Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Blood


 . . . and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
 
For it was the Father’s good pleasure . . .  to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:19-20)

 
 
One of the things that drew me to my wife 38 years ago was her walk with Christ.  Nancy was never one to relegate her relationship with the Lord to Sundays. Commitment for her meant a day by day, week by week, year after year ever-growing effort to know and to please her Lord. Her desire to know Jesus more intimately has over the years led her to communicate with Him each day in prayer and to bring Him each day her venial sins for forgiveness and reconciliation.  

The other day when I returned home from work she told me about her time with the Lord earlier that morning. As soon as she told me what He had said to her, I knew instinctively she’d heard from His lips. 

She said, “I asked Him this morning if there was anything between us, and before I finished my question, He answered, “The Blood of Jesus.”

The blood of Jesus. What a word of encouragement. What a promise, what a hope, what an assurance.

In the late 19th century hymn writer Elisha Hoffman penned these lyrics:

Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Because of our move across country, the last several months have been like few other times in our lives. The stress has taken its toll on our sense of peace and stillness. And although we continue to do the right things by attending Sunday Mass and spending time each day with Christ in prayer and reading Scripture, I’d begun, in the midst of my spiritual weariness, to forget what it is that brings us into the Father’s presence. It is nothing less than the grace of God through the blood of Jesus, the blood that purchased mercy, pardon, forgiveness and eternal life for this chief of sinners.

Few things encourage me like that verse in 1 John. I know how dirty I was. I know how dirty I am. But the blood of Jesus washes it all away each time I bring my sins to the foot of His cross.

What about you? Are you washed in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

You too can be reconciled, just as my wife and I have been. Ask Him. He will never turn you away.