“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil.3:13
The red color of blood is due to the predominance of the red blood cells. So much so that an important component of blood has been historically overlooked: the white blood cell. What we know now is this essential guardian cell, which has as its singular mission the defense of the body, was seemingly overlooked by two generations of microscopists until the 1840’s. That is when a French pathologist, Gabriel Andral, noted a different kind of cell. This cell which, unlike red cells, had nuclei, did not have hemoglobin, and were irregularly shaped. Andral called it “the white cell” (or leukocyte). It’s function appeared to be related to a crucial role in infection and inflammation, as was observed by a English doctor named William Addison in 1843.
Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee poetically described the neutrophil (the white cell) in this fashion:
“Incited by an infection, the cells mature from the bone marrow and flood into blood vessels, hot for combat—their faces granulated, their nuclei dilated—a fleet of teen-aged soldiers deployed to battle…They are lean, energetic, mobile machines built for immune attack. Professional killer-guardian cells—on a mission.” (The Song of The Cell)
These brave soldiers, after they have given their lives in the defense of the body, their remains are observed grossly as a rather inglorious pejorative we call “pus”. Pus is the only memorial to their sacrifice.
In every cell in our bodies, we find this principle of sacrifice, writ large. The self-serving narcissism we see in today’s society is foreign to our physical being.
When the Lord called my wife and me to be missionaries to Haiti in 1988, we took the Scripture seriously in Rom.12:1 “…Therefore I urge you, brethren, by mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Leave a coveted surgical residency in Hawaii? Resign my commission in the U.S. Army Medical Corps? Leave with our family of three small children (ages 6,4,and 2 )? Leave the security of our home nation to go to a country whose president was in exile and the people’s attempt at free elections was met with machine gun fire in a voting day massacre?
Foolish you say? That I may know Him, who gave His life for me?
It is only reasonable.
When we come to the communion table , we join other brethren who are like-minded, all over the world. One body. One blood. That is what makes us brethren. That is all that matters. This is a communion of fellow climbers. It is said “You will never lead soul heavenward unless you are climbing yourself. You may not be much further along, but you must be climbing.”
We are part of a host of believers like Paul and King David, whose fervent desire was “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…” Ps.27:4
That I may know Him. One thing.
Questions to Think About:
The red color of blood is due to the predominance of the red blood cells. So much so that an important component of blood has been historically overlooked: the white blood cell. What we know now is this essential guardian cell, which has as its singular mission the defense of the body, was seemingly overlooked by two generations of microscopists until the 1840’s. That is when a French pathologist, Gabriel Andral, noted a different kind of cell. This cell which, unlike red cells, had nuclei, did not have hemoglobin, and were irregularly shaped. Andral called it “the white cell” (or leukocyte). It’s function appeared to be related to a crucial role in infection and inflammation, as was observed by a English doctor named William Addison in 1843.
Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee poetically described the neutrophil (the white cell) in this fashion:
“Incited by an infection, the cells mature from the bone marrow and flood into blood vessels, hot for combat—their faces granulated, their nuclei dilated—a fleet of teen-aged soldiers deployed to battle…They are lean, energetic, mobile machines built for immune attack. Professional killer-guardian cells—on a mission.” (The Song of The Cell)
These brave soldiers, after they have given their lives in the defense of the body, their remains are observed grossly as a rather inglorious pejorative we call “pus”. Pus is the only memorial to their sacrifice.
In every cell in our bodies, we find this principle of sacrifice, writ large. The self-serving narcissism we see in today’s society is foreign to our physical being.
When the Lord called my wife and me to be missionaries to Haiti in 1988, we took the Scripture seriously in Rom.12:1 “…Therefore I urge you, brethren, by mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Leave a coveted surgical residency in Hawaii? Resign my commission in the U.S. Army Medical Corps? Leave with our family of three small children (ages 6,4,and 2 )? Leave the security of our home nation to go to a country whose president was in exile and the people’s attempt at free elections was met with machine gun fire in a voting day massacre?
Foolish you say? That I may know Him, who gave His life for me?
It is only reasonable.
When we come to the communion table , we join other brethren who are like-minded, all over the world. One body. One blood. That is what makes us brethren. That is all that matters. This is a communion of fellow climbers. It is said “You will never lead soul heavenward unless you are climbing yourself. You may not be much further along, but you must be climbing.”
We are part of a host of believers like Paul and King David, whose fervent desire was “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…” Ps.27:4
That I may know Him. One thing.
Questions to Think About:
- What does reasonable service mean to you?
- What one thing is important to you?
Posted in One Thing