I am wearing my shirt with this printed on it:
A Blood Donor Saved My Life!
Matthew 26:28
And I am thinking about the truth of that statement.

My condition was terminal.
I would die unless a donor was found whose blood was the type I needed.
That blood needed to be pure, untouched by sin.
The blood that coursed through the veins of all those who would have donated in my behalf,
family, friends, or some beneficent stranger,
was similarly infected by the disease that was dictating my certain death.
There was no remedy...
until God saw my helplessness and the hopeless situation
and decided on the costliest of interventions.
He conferred with His Son, Jesus,
and Jesus agreed to the plan.

The plan was this: that God would send Jesus to earth,
conceived by the Holy Spirit in human form within the womb of a woman.
His blood would remain uncontaminated by the sin in the world,
for He was one with His Father and His heart was pure.
The human blood that ran through His veins was cleansed by His heart
that pumped with the single motivation of serving His Father
and bringing glory to Him.

Jesus was a gentle man who taught mankind about His Father
and revealed His Father's heart of love in actions
that blessed those who opened themselves,
acknowledging and revealing their need.
There were miracles that evidenced His connection with His Father, God,
but none that equaled His blood donation that provided me with everlasting life.

The conditions at His donation on Calvary's Cross
were so unlike those at Red Cross donation sites today.
He had lost a lot of blood by the brutal flogging He'd already endured
before He walked to the site on the hill of Golgotha where He was crucified
and His side was pierced by the sword, spilling out the rest of His blood.
It was there that He died for sin, mine and that of all mankind.
Many who mocked and scorned Him resisted seeing their need of His blood;
others who had walked with Jesus for the past three years watched sadly and helplessly,
not yet fully comprehending how His death was part of the life-giving process.

Three days later, these individuals who believed in Jesus were enlightened,
amazed and elated with His resurrection,
with fresh understanding and infused with new life.

The disease of sin, and its crippling guilt, that coursed through my being was eradicated
as I embraced Jesus and accepted the gift of healing, forgiveness,
that was provided through His blood.

Oh, if only everyone who is dying could know about this Blood Donor, Jesus,
and His one time donation for all mankind!

Twila Charles Leichty
April 3, 2010