Daily Devotions
When I was a teenager in Girl Scouts, they taught us how to do first aid. And one of the things they taught us was how to make a tourniquet—how to take a belt or a scarf and put it tightly on someone’s arm or leg when they were bleeding really fast and we couldn’t stop it any other way. But they made it really clear: if you do this, you need to do it for as short a time as possible–because you are cutting off the flow of blood to the arm or leg, and that means the limb starts dying. If the blood stays cut off long enough, the doctors will have to amputate.
This is what I think of when I read Jesus’ words about drinking His blood. As believers, we are the cells of His body—we are members of the body of Christ. Cells depend on blood to bring them oxygen and food for energy and to carry away their waste. Without that help, they would die very quickly.
As members of the body of Christ, we too depend on His blood to keep us alive and functioning—every minute of our own lives. It started at Calvary, where He lay down His life on the cross for us. His blood became the source of life for us, raising us from spiritual death and making us alive in Him. We became His members, His cells.
And now that Jesus has risen from the dead, He continues to give us new life, every day of our lives. We depend on Him for the power and wisdom and mercy and forgiveness we need, minute to minute. He lives in us, and we live in Him. We can’t do it without Him. We can’t go it alone. His blood is our life.
And because He is generous, He has given us another wonderful gift—His own body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. It’s not just our spirits but our bodies that are nourished by His gift. Look at how much He loves us!
THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You. Help me to depend on You with joy every day of my life. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. When you think about blood, do you usually think of life or death? Why?
2. What do you think about when you take Communion?
3. How do you depend on the Lord to help you make it through your days? Give examples.