Two hundred eight pints.  That is 26 gallons.  That is how much blood Mike Hadl of Lawrence, Kansas, has donated since 1982.  Last Saturday was the date of his most recent donation, and he doesn’t want it to be his last.  “When I get done and head home, I say to God, just let me do one more pint,” he told WIBW in Topeka.

Why has he donated so much blood?  The need for blood transfusions is ever-present, especially during this coronavirus pandemic.  But for Hadl, there is an even greater motivation.

Hadl’s mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer. At one point in her treatments, she needed a blood transfusion.  “She had to have two pints of whole blood and she lived four [more] months,” he told the local TV station, “but the two pints of blood, whoever gave them, gave her one more Thanksgiving, one more Christmas, one more New Years, with her children, her grandkids, her family and friends.”

Since then, Hadl has donated as much blood as he can, as often as he can, so that perhaps his blood can help save a life – or at least extend it.  He encourages others to give as well. *

Our sinful condition is fatal: “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  But God loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16).  The blood that Jesus shed in His death is the remedy – the only remedy – for our condition.  When His blood is applied to our lives, we receive eternal life.  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Jesus willingly “shed His blood” (gave His life) so that we can have eternal life.  It is the very reason that He, the eternal Word, “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).  “In all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation [an atoning sacrifice] for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).

“Let me help save one more,” seems to be the mantra of Mike Hadl.  Jesus’ desire is always to save one more.  He said, “The Son of man has come to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

You can take it personally: Jesus wants to save YOU.

The Good News is that the blood of Jesus is sufficient to save YOU and as many as will accept His offer on His terms.  “He Himself is the propitiation [the atoning sacrifice] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

God will save by the blood of Jesus and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).  In baptism, the penitent believer has his/her sins washed away by the blood of Jesus (Acts 22:16).  That same blood continues to cleanse the Christian from sins as he/she continues to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Jesus always wants to save one more.  He wants to save YOU.

* Information gleaned from “Kansas man gives 208 pints of blood: 'Let me do one more'” by Caleb Parke, www.foxnews.com.

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

Archived issues of Living Water can be viewed and accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org