"This is your life!"

There’s something I have done for years and years, in fact since I was 18 years old, that I think seriously about every time I do it. Anyone who knows me probably wonders if I am ever serious about anything, but this is one of those things that kinda makes me give pause and consider very carefully before acting. I’m talking about giving blood.

Now, in the bible we know that blood is very important. From the very beginning of the bible there have been certain “laws of God” that are always true. For instance, God has never approved of fornication. The law of Moses did not change that, nor did the coming of Christ. Some things about God have been, well, eternal. His laws concerning blood seem to be one of those laws.

I think we first read about how God feels concerning blood when God tells Noah not to eat of it. He tells Noah that blood is the life of the body. I am certain that God also told Adam this, although it is not recorded. The point is that God wants mankind to respect it, and that eating it is verboten. God doesn’t just say don’t do it, he also spells out a serious punishment if he is disobeyed. In other passages of the bible, he uses “blood” and “life” interchangeably. God hates hands that shed innocent blood. Abel’s blood cried from the ground. The strength of Egypt was turned into blood. God required blood sacrifices. A man’s doom is described as “his blood shall be upon him.”

Since God is so serious about blood, shouldn’t I be as well? So when I go in to that school, or church, or office building and lay down on that folding bed, I should reflect on these things. When they stab me with that straw-sized needle (well, it LOOKED pretty big to me!) and tap out a pint, I should consider what I am doing carefully. The scriptures say clearly that the life of the body is in the blood. Part of my life is there, drained out into a sterile plastic bag. It’s not just some protein fluid with a little rust thrown in; that is precious stuff! How does God feel about me giving it away? Why, you just know it’s going to go to some dirty rotten sinner, maybe even to save his life! Does that sound right to you?

Maybe I should tell them they can only give it to people I approve of. Maybe I should just not give it at all, since blood is so important to God surely I am doing wrong by giving it away. If only the bible had some guidance for me on things like this, but it’s just an old dusty book, right? People didn’t know about things like plasma, or blood types, or transfusions. Does it offer any clues?

Let’s see. God sent his son, his only son, to be killed by man. To have his blood, his innocent blood, shed for us. To literally give up his personal share of protein fluid, with a little rust thrown in. Precious stuff! Why, you just know it’s going to go to some dirty rotten sinner! Maybe even to save his life! Does that sound right to you?

It does to God. Thanks be to God!

Genesis 4:9-11 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand

Genesis 9:3-6 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Exodus 22:2-3 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

Leviticus 7:26-27 Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

Leviticus 17:10-13 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.