If you attend a church where the whole Bible is preached, you’ve heard about Jesus shedding His blood for us, until you can almost quote what the preacher is saying, as he is saying it from the pulpit.

You know that Jesus gave his lifeblood by becoming a living sacrifice for us. But do you comprehend it? I find it difficult to REALLY know what a sacrifice that was. For people who may not have even heard of Him, even now.

And I’ve come up with an example that helps a little. Consider our troops in the Middle East right now. They have answered a call, and have gone halfway around the world to a desert-like place that none of us would go to, even on a paid vacation. They wear protective clothing in a place that can be like a furnace, even when you’re wearing the bare minimum of clothing. Plus the weapons and ammunition and other things necessary in that awful place. They’ve left their jobs and families, whether the family is able to pay the bills and handle their lives while part of the household is gone for no telling how long, and no telling whether he or she will even come back.

They’re placing their lives on the line…ready to shed their life blood for you. And they don’t even know you, personally. And even the ones who don’t get injured or killed…who get to come back to their homes and families someday…have made the commitment to die for you, if things fall that way.

Jesus did that for you. It’s done; but now you have to accept it, or you’ve wasted the best opportunity of your life. Like our military persons, He has offered His life for you.

Give thanks to Christ for the sacrifice He made for us, and pray for our troops, who are offering themselves, even though our nation is divided in its loyalty to them. Whether our thinking is right or wrong…whether our leaders are right or wrong, their sacrifice has no less meaning, and those who lose their lives for us are no less dead.

37BT Bill Thornton July 31, 2007