"The Blood of Jesus" (March 16)

As we approached the gate, my heart rate quickened. I peered through the bars. I saw the ancient trees and the beautiful flowers. I came to a stop. We were here. The Garden of Gethsemane.

Leading up to this moment, we had walked down the road leading into Jerusalem. While walking, I looked down and noticed spots of blood on the pavement beneath my feet. I matched my steps with them and soon realized that whoever had walked this path before me must have had a cut on one of their bare feet. A pretty bad cut, no doubt, because the drops lasted for quite a while.

Now, standing at the Garden gate, looking out at the Kidron valley and on into the city of Jerusalem, all I could think of were those drops of blood on the paved road. Those drops of blood...and Jesus.

On the night of His arrest,

He withdrew into the Garden,

and He prayed:

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." Luke 22: 42-44

He was in anguish.

Falling at His feet, Jesus cried out to the Father, pouring Himself out like a drink offering.

And He sweated...

drops of blood.

He knew what was coming.

He knew it,

and He still did it.

Pondering his unconditional love and obedience to the Father and His selfless love for mankind makes my heart full and my knees weak.

He died, so that I could live.

What a gift.

An undeserved and most beautiful gift.

I don't know how that person cut their foot on the road to Jerusalem today, but I pray their wound heals soon. If only they knew how encouraging their endurance of pain was to me today. They continued to walk, even when it hurt, and because they did, my heart was blessed. My perspective was changed, and my life will never be the same.

Our God is good,

and the blood of Jesus,

"Oh, the blood of Jesus,

 it washes white as snow."