Life is in the Blood. And Blood is Red.

A couple days ago, my freight train of thought ended with the phrase 'The red letters are the blood of the Bible'.  I have no clue how I got there.

    But it makes a little bit of sense. The basis of the Christian faith is the fact that Jesus [that being, The Son (of God), who is God] died for an eternity in three days. The red letters are his [directly] quoted words. They are about where the heart would be, if Genesis was the foot and Revelation the hair of the head. 

    And if it weren't for them, nobody would know about the death. They started a wildfire in the people, showed them who he is, so that they would be confident of who he is. They would be confident that Jesus WAS God. That He is. His words finished the understanding of the law, that all men were known to the Father by their hearts, as well as their deeds. 

    They are the words, that by simply being heard, change a man, washing the inside, so that the outside might become clean. The ultimate version of 'Clear Eyes'. (You've seen the commercial. You see how clean those eyes become.) They are the blood of that book. The muttled understanding of the old testament, the confusion and offensive nature of the epistles, and all the "Wait, What?" moments in the Bible, they can be seen clearly. The Truth becomes alive. 

    Now, if we are talking blood, I can't take a platelet and say 'This is blood!', that would be a synecdoche. I would be calling a part a whole. Like cheating me on pie. Bad idea. 

    However, I can grab a microscope, and look at the red blood cell, the platelet, the white blood cell, I can look at all of them, and say, 'This is blood. These are the parts. Together, they bring and maintain life. And I can see the plasma. The plasma alone is naught, but it allows the rest to live well. (I don't know where that last bit was going.)

    I know Matthew Chapter Five, with the beatitudes, is absolutely a cakewalk. But what comes after, along with the rest of his words, make the blood hard to take. It involves condemnation, torture, and difficulty. But the result of that... is life. 

     For the blood is the life of the body, without it the body is dead. Likewise with the red letters. Without them, my heart is laws, rebellion, and vanity. Without them, I am dead of heart. But with the words of a Savior feeding my soul, my life becomes abundant in beauty, despite the pain of my healing.

Rain

I don't get why people think of rain as a grim thing. I like it. It is solemn, and comforting. 


If this is a new perspective to you consider the following verse.


Matt 5:45  " He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" 


If you consider that the sun burns, removes life, causes drought, and is even capable of killing some people, Rain could be preferable. But the rain makes the roads slicker, cools the world, and in some cases can make one shiver with such severity they could die. The world looks rather grim now. Hence, it rains on the wicked.


Opposing that worldview is that which the righteous likely have. Rain? Helps the crops grow. Sun? Beach time. Raining and sunny at the same time? Ride a bike in a poncho at the beach. Or maybe tan and take a (clothed) shower at the same time. It all is fun. See how the world looks now? 


This verse does not necessarily apply to him blessing both. It does not necessarily apply to him cursing both. It applies to both the former and the latter, pronouncing blessings and curses upon all. How do you view the rain? How the snow? How the sun? How the Son? His gospel will bless those who love him, curse those who hate him. Those who live by the deed will be cursed, those who live by THE Grace blessed beyond their wildest dreams. So which one are you?

Shining your Armor

In Ephesians chapter Five, Paul presents us with a list of attributes that God has given to Christians so that we may get through our days, regardless of the stress of the days. I may be a little ADD in this, but I am certain this armor is supposed to be shiny.

Shininess is an attribute that allows for light to be shown without looking directly at it. If we truly want to show God's Glory throughout our lives, we need to shine our armor. Sure, if it is a little grimy it can still protect us, but our enemies will not have nearly as good of a view of the LORD if our armor is frosted over.

So, how do we shine our armor? First, take the time to do it. If we bog ourselves down, we will become tired and forget to do it. Save a day to maintain what the Lord has given you, a relationship. Also, continue to rest in Him, so that he might clean it through his glory. (aside: The temple was cleaned initially through God's Glory. He made everything shiny.)

I will also say this: The sword is a different animal altogether. It becomes shiny while it is being sharpened.  It isn't sharpened by resting, rest brings blades to rust. It is sharpened by being tested on flint, by being tested properly on the coarse stone. It is cleaned as it is used, shined in it's sheath. Never let it down, not for a day. Be ready, so that when battle calls, it will be with you, and able to be guided by it's spirit. Never let it go. Never.