Blood Bought My Freedom

Recently I have been reading a set of books written by Rick Atkinson about the battles of WWII. He starts off in Volume I, An Army at Dawn, describing all the efforts of the US and Britain to win the war in North Africa. I was amazed as I read about the inefficiency and ineptness of our nation as we tried to mobilize and get our military into fighting shape after the Japanese cowardly bombing of Pearl Harbor. After reading this account I have now gone on to Volume II, The Day of Battle, which describes our efforts to win the war in Sicily, Italy and beyond. I made the comment to my wife, Sharon, several times that the only way that we won that war was purely by the grace and mercy of God.

One of the striking features of these meticulously documented accounts of WWII activities is how many times the stupidity and egotism of our leaders, and Britain's leaders, cost the lives of thousands of our troops. The ill-advised nighttime paratrooper drops; the shocking effort to land gliders at night when they couldn't even land during the daylight hours without major problems; the dividing of our forces in an effort to win a city or a battle before another leader, and many other decisions that reeked of nothing more than ego trips, cost the lives of many thousands of our men. Their blood was shed needlessly and shamefully in folly and stupidity. General Patton once said in essence that he didn't care if his haste to get to Messina, on the Island of Sicily cost extra lives, he had to get to Messina before Montgomery, who was leading the British 8th Army towards Messina.

Not that the troops themselves didn't perform inadequately in many cases. The defeat at Kasserine Pass revealed an abysmal leadership ineptness, and a lack of courage and ability to wage war among the troops that still rankles some today.

However, this is not to detract from the amazing stories of courage and integrity among many of our men in these conflicts. It is still a wonder to read how these men did so much with so little support to defeat their enemies. Their blood and their comrades' blood stained the beaches, the lands, the mountains, the valleys, the waters and bought our freedom. What a glorious legacy they left for us to contemplate.

This nation's history is replete with the bloody sacrifices of men who gave their ultimate to advance the cause of freedom. Those sacrifices are being trampled underfoot and desecrated by the gutless leaders of our nation today.

Recently I was listening to a music CD and one of the songs that came on was entitled, Blood Bought My Freedom. I couldn't find out who wrote the song, but here are the words.

Land of the Free,
Sweet home of Liberty.
It came at such a great cost.
Our Soldiers brave and true,
Gave their lives for me and you.
Thank God for the red, white, and blue.

Blood bought my freedom,
Someone had to die.
Someone freely took my place,
Blood was the price for supreme sacrifice.
Someone died that we might be free.

Over the sea
On an old rugged tree,
A battle was fought for you and me.
It won't be fought again,
We have victory over sin.
Thank God for Calvary.

Blood bought my freedom,
Someone had to die.
Someone freely took my place,
Blood was the price for supreme sacrifice.
Someone died that we might be free.

What a great song! Note how the second verse shifts our focus from the battlefields that American men and women have fought upon to the spiritual battlefield that Jesus fought for the souls of man.

Yes, from the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, to the very last, Revelation, we are reminded over and over again of the need for the shedding of blood to secure our freedom from the bonds of sin and degradation.

Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Hebrews 9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

Hebrews 9:11-14 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Revelation 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

The words, blood, bloody, etc., are used hundreds of times in the word of God. We who believe the Bible implicitly are often accused of believing in a "bloody religion." I am guilty. It should be obvious to anyone who does even a cursory reading of the Bible that God has devised a plan to pay for the sin and sins of mankind, and that plan requires the shedding of the blood of an innocent sacrifice.

1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

In order for us to escape that eternal death in a lake of fire, we must trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Have you been saved? Without Jesus Christ the Lord as your Saviour you cannot go to Heaven. Hell is your destiny. Trust the shed blood of Jesus Christ for your salvation. You see, as the words of the song listed above say, "Blood Bought Your Freedom", the blood of an innocent Lamb, Jesus Christ, "the Lamb of God."

"Blood Bought My Freedom,SomeoneHad To Die"

"Blood Bought My Freedom,
Someone

Had To Die"