Would you?

Another great message from Bill Bright from Campus Crusade for Christ.

I once heard a story about a baby girl who lay near death, critically injured in an automobile accident. She desperately needed a blood transfusion, but no one could be found who shared her rare blood type.

In the midst of their frantic search, the doctors discovered that the child's older brother, Kevin, had the right type of blood. Anxious to proceed, one of the doctors sat down with the seven-year-old boy and talked quietly with him.

"Your sister is very sick, son," he said, "and if we don't help her, she's not going to live. I want to know if you are willing to give your blood to help your baby sister?"

His face pale with fear, Kevin seemed to struggle with his answer. But after a few moments, he said softly, "Yes, I will."

The little boy watched sadly and silently as his blood flowed from his arm through the tube. "We're almost finished," the doctor smiled encouragingly.

Kevin's eyes filled with tears. "How long 'til I die?" he whispered.

Looking at him in amazement, the doctor realized that Kevin thought he had been asked to give all his blood to save his sister. That brave little boy had believed that his act of mercy for his sister would cost him his life. Yet he was willing to do it!

What great love! Our Lord Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13, NIV). It makes me wonder how many of us would be willing to give up our own lives so unselfishly for someone we love, much less someone we do not even know, especially if they are living a sinful life? "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8, NIV).

The Bible also reveals, "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Corinthians 5:15, NIV).

Let us, indeed, no longer live for ourselves, but for Him, who died for us. How can anyone say no?