God looks upon you favorably!

A little boy had a sister who needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained to him that his sister, Mary, had the same illness that he’d been healed of two years earlier. Mary’s only chance of survival was a transfusion from someone who had already conquered the sickness.

“Do you want to give your blood to your sister, Mary?” the doctor asked him. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, “For my sister, of course!” The two children were soon led into a hospital room.

The nurse inserted the needle into Johnny’s arm. When the ordeal was almost over, Johnny’s slightly trembling voice broke the silence… “Doctor, how soon am I going to die?” It was only at that moment that the doctor understood why the little boy had hesitated. He had thought that giving his blood meant losing his own life.

Each of us had a much more serious condition than Mary, and Jesus did have to give His blood and life to save us. (the Bible, 1 Peter 1:19)

The Bible calls this “atonement.” This word comes from the Greek word “hilaskomai,” which means “to make propitiation for, to be appeased, to show favor to someone.” The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 that atonement is made by the shedding of an innocent’s blood in place of the guilty’s.

Because of Jesus’s blood, God looks upon you favorably! Don’t you just want to praise God with me for Jesus’s precious blood?

P.S. Today’s text is freely inspired, with permission, by a book I highly recommend, Émerveillé par l’amour de Dieu, by David Nolent, director of TopChrétien.