Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Daily Light - October 13, 2010

Daily Light from the Lighthouse

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood."
Leviticus 17:11

Have you ever been to the barber shop and noticed that red, white, and blue pole out front? Traditionally that pole would have only been red and white. It seems that in the U.S. the blue was added for possibly a couple of reasons. If you were to go all the way back to the Middle Ages, you would find out the significance of that red and white pole. Tradition has it that the red and white stripes on the barber's pole represented the clean and blood-soaked bandages. At the top there was a basin that represented what the leeches were held in and at the bottom was another basin to catch the blood. A barber many years ago did more than give you a shave and a haircut. He was also a surgeon. One of the surgical procedures that was common for many years was bloodletting. It was believed that there was "bad blood" in a person's system and if it was removed they would be healed. This procedure was in part one of the reasons for the death of our first president, George Washington.
How could that happen? Science had it all figured out that this procedure would saves lives not take them. It would have been good for the scientists and physicians of the day to take a look at the Bible and see very clearly that God said that the life of the flesh is in the blood. The answer was right in front of them. This isn't the only area in which science and even religion has failed. For many years the official church of Rome taught that the world was flat. To argue against this ridiculous philosophy could cost you your livelihood and even your life. The church said that they were the final authority and the earth was most definitely flat. If someone in the church would have taken their time to look at Isaiah 40:22, they would have seen God described as "He who sits above the circle of the earth."
Once again, God was right and man was wrong. As we look at the world around us today, there are a large number of people who doubt the Word of God. They have trouble accepting it as truth. I have been told by several people that I would describe as quite smart if not intelligent that the Bible is just a book of made up stories and fairy tales for weak-minded people. They intellectually can't accept that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father, that there is a Heaven, and that a loving God would allow someone to spend eternity in Hell. Here is what we must understand. Their doubt does not change its truth. The philosophies of man will never trump the truth of God's Word. It is true still today that the life of the flesh is in the blood. It is also true that the life of the Spirit comes through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This is the clear teaching of God's Word. His Word has been tested and tried for centuries, and it still holds true.
May you let God's Word be the final truth for your life.

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