Mankind was created in the image of God thus making them special creatures. Unlike animals that we have the liberty to kill for food, fur, or some other use, we cannot kill a human being for whatever thing we deem useful. Small wonder then that God loathes and detests, hates even those who shed the blood of innocent people. So abhorrent is this deed to God that the consequence He institutes for the same is a life for another as seen in Genesis 9:6 and other passages:

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”

Two points of application will then be useful for us as we consider this weighty subject. First, it is a consideration of how the Lord Jesus equated hatred to murder (Matthew 5:21-22). The thrust of what He was warning us against is that whereas murder is the action, the attitude of it and the root of it is in hatred. We must therefore watch out and put to death these sinful tendencies in us lest we fall into a trap of the evil one. The other matter, and one that we have come to accept as norm, is the murder of children while still in the womb. How much innocent does it get than a helpless child still in the womb? We may formulate arguments to defend this action, but every life, from the womb till the tomb, is sacred to God. We do not give life and therefore don’t have the prerogative to take it – that’s God’s domain. But in case you have shed blood in whatever form, look to another innocent blood that was shed for your sake and mine. Through Christ’s sacrificial death, we have forgiveness and assurance and as Hebrews 12:21-24 puts it, “…You have come…to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

1. In what other ways do we see innocent blood shed?

2. Are there situations that you would consider justifiable for the killing of a human being?

3. What do you need to do in light of today’s sobering devotion?