One Word
This winter on The Daily Pattern we’re in a series called One Word. Each day we take one word – a feeling or circumstance – and bring a word from God to it. Let the Word of God speak to your life.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) O Lord, I am lowly and humble. You alone are my inheritance. Amen.
Word: Leviticus 17:11
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls.”
Meditation
Blood by Allison Lewis
When you donate a pint of blood to the American Red Cross, you help save three lives. Don’t worry, I’m not going into details of how and why. But if you’re curious about donating, let’s chat.
Last year, I completed my eighth blood donation with the American Red Cross. This is a huge donor milestone (eight pints equals one gallon = one gallon of blood!) and a big personal accomplishment. You see, I’m quite squeamish. I can’t stand to see blood in movies or on television hospital dramas. When my sister in medical school wants to share gory details from the latest surgery she observed, I have to walk away. But strangely, when I give blood, I squirm less.
Being able to help others in a small way reminds me of the ultimate sacrifice that God made for you and me.
In Leviticus 17, the Lord describes the promised Savior and the purpose of his blood: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls” Leviticus 17:11.
Whoa, stop and reread that verse.
The Lord gave the blood of his son— his only son— on the altar so that didn’t have to.
Hymnwriter Robert Lowry sums it up perfectly in his hymn “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus”:
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
O precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know;
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us so that we did not remain separate from God, caught up in our sin. He loves us so much that he was willing to die on a cross, releasing the lifeblood from his very body, so that you and I could live with him forever. That’s the kind of amazing God we have. Praise the Lord for this amazing gift!
Dear Lord, thank you for sending your son Jesus as the ultimate atonement for my sins. Help me to find a way to serve those around me each day. Amen.
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
O Lord and King, your Kingdom comes even without our prayer. But we pray that it would also come among us. We are desperate for your reign and rule, for all we see is rebellion. Come into my heart, my home, my family, my work, my church, my community. Rule with justice and with mercy. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.