1 Peter 1:18-19 (NLT)
18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

The words of the Apostle Peter remind us we inherited an empty life. God had planned a full and rich life for man, but when man fell to sin we were robbed of that richness. The rich life is not one paid for with gold or silver. It is a rich life free from sin paid with the ransom of the blood of Jesus Christ.

The Red Cross frequently calls me asking if I would be willing to donate blood. I was always curious why they called until one day the lady on the phone asked me that very question, “Do you know why we call you so frequently to give blood?” I told her no and she explained I have what is called CMV negative blood. CMV stands for Cytomegalovirus. It is an extremely common infection most of our population has been exposed to. Once a person is infected with CMV the virus remains in the body. For most people the virus poses little problems, or shows no obvious symptoms. However for those with weak or compromised immune systems the virus can be deadly. The lady from the Red Cross went on to tell me because I never acquired the virus my blood was used for neo-natal babies, burn patients and cancer patients who had compromised immune systems. She then told me, “Did you know your blood has saved 37 lives?” Jesus Christ who never acquired sin gave His blood for our lives. He was free from the sin everyone had inherited and because of His pure blood Jesus was able to save all of us infected with sin. No one else’s blood would have worked; it was His alone. Praise Jesus who gave His blood to save our lives from sin.