Today I was reading in Exodus 12 and I was struck by something. Verse 13 said, "The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." The thing that struck me was the part that said "the blood shall be a sign FOR YOU." That part had never really hit me before. Maybe I'm slow and never picked up on it, but I just always thought that the blood that the Israelite people spread over the frames of their doors was so that God would know the people in those houses were his followers and he shouldn't kill them. It's amazing house small we make God out to be. It's amazing how we bring him down to human-sized intelligence and power for no real reason. I immediately wrote a note down that says this:
"The blood wasn't used because God needed help knowing who lived in that house. Rather, it was a measure of obedience, a sign of belief that God was who he said he was and that he would do what he said he would do."
The blood wasn't to HELP GOD, why would the all-knowing God need help? He knew who was in those houses and whether or not they were his followers. He didn't need the blood to know whether or not the first-born in that house should die. The blood was so the people could be reminded that they were making a commitment to God. They were staking their very livelihood and future on the promises of God. The blood is a sign FOR YOU. The people were the ones who needed the blood.
It's very scary how the Bible in the most odd and obscure occurrences in the history of time tells us what will happen down the road. The blood painted on the door frames of those slaves homes in Egypt was FOR YOU. The blood was "A measure of Obedience" for them to state that they believed in God. Do you know what that passage ultimately reminded me as I have been reminded so many other times in scripture and just brushed it off...The BLOOD WAS FOR ME!!!
The blood splattered and dripping down the wooden roman cross is FOR ME. It is a Sign of Obedience, Christ's Obedience to HIS FATHER, that God is who he says he is (MY SAVIOR) and that he will do what he says he will do (LOVE ME). The Blood is FOR ME and FOR YOU.
Now, OUR Sign of Obedience is to seek God First. Everything we think, speak, and do should be...MUST BE about HIM. Because the Blood of Christ has spared our lives. Jesus has absorbed the Wrath of God, shielding us from the Father, from the punishment that is due us, from the death that we so deserve. And now OUR SIGN OF OBEDIENCE requires death to ourselves, death to our selfish ways, death to our self-centered pursuits, death to what we call important. We must, "by the mercies of God, present our bodies living and holy sacrifices, acceptable to God, this is our spiritual service/act of worship." Romans 12:1. THIS IS OUR SIGN OF OBEDIENCE: lives fully committed to the will of God which means "LOVE God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
God Loved us First and that was proven through the blood on the cross, therefore in response to that love; we love him with all that we have and love all people with all that we have, which in itself is another way to Love God. So, our sign of obedience is to EXIST FULLY IN LOVE.
