Under the Blood

I've heard it said many times growing up, "You need to get that under the blood." Most often it was a pastor or a parent or a teacher giving the sage advice. It was usually in reference to a bitter feeling, a sinful action, or a jealous thought. Something that would hinder me in my Christian walk. Something that was detrimental to my spiritual health. Getting it "under the blood" meant giving it to Christ and allowing his blood to cover my sin, something akin to "Getting the victory over it." I was reminded of those sayings today as I struggled with something that I just can't seem to root out of my life. Yet, even the saintliest of saints had thorns in the flesh. Only Christ is perfect.

What was it Paul said, "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Romans 7:19-24

Paul was so transparent in his writings. He struggled. He had faults. He suffered. When I think I have suffered, I am reminded of this: "I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches." I Corinthians 11:22-28

That sorta puts things in perspective, doesn't it. I've got no room to whine or complain. I've got no reason to harbor bitterness or anger. I can't justify any of my actions with the excuse that I am under stress. Paul says he faced the pressure daily. And yet his concern was for the churches -- for his fellow brothers and sisters. He had every reason to be selfish. He had every reason to be bitter or angry. He could have totally given up and given in to that part of him that was flesh and wanted revenge or justice. But he chose to die daily to that part of his life. It was a conscious decision. And in the end, he got the victory over those things. As long as we are alive on this earth, we will have struggles with sin. But thank God, there is a remedy, and it's under the Blood. Without it, there is no hope.



Victorious Living