And By His Stripes...

Covered!

I love how we are effortlessly amazing. The unique traits of our genetic make up cause us to have varying heights, colored eyes, beautiful complexions, and specific fingerprints. I am most amazed by our body’s organic way of healing and repairing itself.

Depending on your immune system, within seconds of a split to your skin's surface a sticky substance called platelets rushes to work creating a protective barrier or scab.

How beneficial is a scab anyway?

It was roughly 10:08 pm on Sunday, October 1st.  For nine to 15 minutes, a lone gunman randomly rained bullets from the 32^nd floor of a hotel room.  Concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival were ducking, running, and scattering with hopes of avoiding the barrage of bullets heading their direction. When the chaos subsided, 58 individuals were killed and nearly 500 injured.

To put it into perspective, in the days that Hurricane Harvey dumped 14-15 trillion gallons of rain, 36 people lost their life.

After each of those threats relented there was a call for assistance. In Houston, it came in the way of physical and financial donations. People gave in record numbers. Vegas requested something different. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman sent out a call for blood.

 October 2, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Within moments Vegas residents and visitors, eager to give, filled the blood donation centers and created lines that stretched around block. Regardless of whether or not they knew the individuals in need, donors were passionate about helping to save someone else’s life by giving blood.

Scripture teaches us this:

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” – Romans 5:8 (NLT)

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

There is something about being covered and protected until you are made whole again. The healing process may not look appealing but it is what is happening underneath that matters most. the ugliness is just masking what is being made new again. The scab of your pain is coming off and your reemergence is about to be seen - you will be whole again. Jesus knew that we would experience and inflict pain yet he purposefully gave His life. As Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross, there was no hesitation about what He was doing. That moment provides immediate healing to anyone that is in need.

“And by His stripes we are healed.”

Just as quickly as blood platelets create a protective scab that covers the break in our skin and the white blood cells fight bacteria without our request, Jesus and His angels step in with immediacy to heal, protect, and save!

The Blood of Jesus COVERS
The Blood of Jesus HEALS
The Blood of Jesus PROTECTS
The Blood of Jesus WILL MAKE YOU WHOLE AGAIN

Together we experienced the hurt from Hurricane Harvey, the viciousness of the Vegas attack, and the tirades on twitter. Despite the efforts of those atrocities to create gaping holes in our nation’s fabric we are the United States of America and we are the body of Christ – together we must follow Christ’s example by binding together, rising to the top, and protecting our nation as we heal.

“And by His stripes we are healed.”