Thought for Today
Genesis 9:4 Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Psalm 72:14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.
Luke 22:20 And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
John 1:12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
We recently had blood work done as part of our annual physical exams. Because of the current laws concerning healthcare, the results of our blood work are available to us via our healthcare provider’s internet website. I am not a doctor. I never dreamed of becoming a doctor or of having any connection to medicine or healthcare beyond being an occasional patient. However, every time I review the results, I am amazed by the wealth of information available to our doctor about our general health from analyzing those 2 or 3 small test tubes of blood.
On various occasions, I have had reason to do an internet search about some of the acronyms and the tests. I do not pretend to understand what I read from those searches. When I ask the doctor, she is usually very patient in explaining the whys and wherefores of those tests. Thankfully, for both of us, our blood work results are generally normal and well within the ranges for each test. Even more thankfully, when things have gotten out of whack, solutions to resolve the issue have always been available.
Most of us have heard the expression, “The eyes are the window to the soul.” True as that may . . . or may not be, certainly the blood is ‘the search engine to our health.’ Our doctor can look at those tests and tell me whether I am eating too much sugar, too much salt, whether I have too much fat in my diet and how well most of the organs in my body are functioning. Is my blood clotting properly? Is my immune system functioning? Beyond those blood tests, the main thing the doctors need to do today is listen to our lungs and our hearts . . . good news, our doctor did detect a beating heart in my chest!!
We don’t find much about modern medicine, doctors or healthcare in the Bible. Jesus did at least once mention doctors, “Luke 4:23 He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" The very fact that there was such a proverb does reveal that there were doctors, healers and some forms of healthcare even 2020+ years ago. Paul does refer to Luke himself in one of the epistles, “Colossians 4:14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.”
From the earliest verses in the Bible, however, we find a knowledge of the importance of blood. Our ancestors-in-the-faith may not have been able to measure any of those metrics my own doctor uses to assess my overall health. They did know, however, the importance of blood and its close association with life itself. The word blood appears more than 400 times in scripture.
One of the first occurrences is in the story of Cain and Abel, “Genesis 4:10 And the LORD said, ‘ What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground!’” The verse above from Genesis reveals that early understanding of the co-dependence between life and blood, “with its life, that is, its blood.”
Everywhere in the Bible we see a great reverence for life as being a gift from God, “Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” Repeatedly, in the Torah, we see special attention paid to the proper treatment of the blood involved with sacrificial animals.
If life itself is a gift from God, and blood is an integral part of our lifeforce, special attention is due our blood. As much as I want the metrics revealed by my blood to indicate good physical health, I want the lifeforce God has gifted to me to reflect good spiritual health. Indeed, the idea that we can somehow separate the spiritual and the physical is unbiblical and incorrect. God created both. God has gifted life itself to God’s children. We should be thankful to God for that gift, treat the gift wisely and use the gift to advance God’s kingdom.
So, when I finally do see the results of my blood tests on that website, correcting anything outside the physically healthy parameters is not only good for my health, it is truly a form of worship of the God who gave me life . . . even if that means I have to cut back on the salsa and chips!!
Stay safe, use God’s gift wisely in God’s service, trust God,
Pastor Ray