If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Hebrews 10:26A red blood cell is so tiny that over five million of them exist in every drop of blood. That’s 30-trillion in the average sized adult. Thirty trillion! Now that may seem like overkill, but it’s not. For in the vast ocean of formed elements that fill our arteries and veins every one of those red cells is vital for life, so important in fact that God created a second type of cell, called the platelet, to keep the red cells from leaking out. Platelets are sticky. Tenacious. They work together, to form a tight mesh, and ultimately to stop the hemorrhage…
“EMS report for medic-seven…Hemorrhage.”
The loudspeaker made me jump. We were receiving another dispatch, and I just had removed my boots. I pulled them back on and began to lace them up as the dispatcher continued.
“We’ve got one bleeding at 415 Maple Street. Police on scene request a code-three response. Code-three.”
Code-3 means get there fast, someone’s about to die. I finished tying my boots and hurried toward the ambulance. My partner was already behind the wheel with the engine running when I climbed into the passenger seat. I clicked on my safety belt, then I switched on the emergency lights and keyed the truck’s radio mic.
“Medic-seven en route. Responding Code-three.”
“10-4. Medic- seven,” the dispatcher continued, “be advised, you have a twenty-five year old male bleeding heavily. The caller states he punched his fist through a sheet of plate glass. The patient is not breathing.”
“Ten-four.” I replaced the mic and glanced at my partner. “Sounds bad. Let’s go.”
My partner drove out of the bay and hit the gas. I pulled on a pair of blue latex gloves, hung my stethoscope around my neck, and then sat back to think. Would it be a simple laceration? A horrific bloody mess? I’d seen enough trauma to realize the severity of the call. We’d need to act fast, to stop the bleeding before it was too late.
My partner made a hard turn onto Maple Street and slowed the truck. I switched off the siren and lights. He drove to the end of the street and set the brakes. I jumped out and grabbed an orange bag containing trauma supplies and IV fluids. Then I started for the house with my partner by my side.
Halfway up the sidewalk we heard angry shouting. On the front steps a loud scream. Then a soul piercing wail echoed from within the house. “No, no, nooooo!” I stepped onto the front porch and walked carefully across the broken shards of glass that littered the planks. The door hung on its hinges, its plate glass window smashed. I walked into the house and stopped. My patient lay in the center of the room in a wide pool of blood. His blank eyes stared at the ceiling. His skin looked dull and pale.
“Oh Lord! Oh Lord!” A weak kneed middle-aged woman stood on the other side of the room shouting, supported by family members struggling to hold her up. “God,” she cried, “no, no, no, not my baby boy!”
“She found him about ten minutes ago,” one of the cops reported. “I don’t think you can do anything for him, but we called you just in case.”
“No,” the woman cried, gazing at me through tear-stained eyes. “My boy, my boy, tell me he’s okay. Please tell me he’s not dead!”
But he was dead. There was nothing my partner and I could do. The man’s blood had already been spilt. It was too late to stop the hemorrhage.
You know when God designed the human body he created a marvelous mechanism to control bleeding. Platelets respond to the site of injury. They adhere to one another. They form a tight mesh. And once piled upon by circulating fibers, an impenetrable barrier forms. It’s called clotting. But if the damage is too severe and the clotting mechanisms fail, there’s no stopping the hemorrhage. Death will surely come.
Our life in Christ is much the same. If we grow too attached to the world, if we deliberately continue in sin, our souls begin to bleed. So we must become like those platelets. Sticky and tenacious. Obedient to God’s Word. And we must encourage one another by adhering to our fellow believers and working together to stop the hemorrhage in our lives before it is too late. If we fail to do this, more souls will bleed to death and silently slip away.
Don’t allow that to happen. Stop the hemorrhage in your spiritual life. Christ’s blood was shed on your behalf. Accept his marvelous gift of life, and live.
Inspirational Devotions from a Tested Paramedic. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” The First Responders in your community do just that. They sacrifice comfort and safety to protect the lives of others, always waiting, and always wondering when they will find themselves answering the next call. I wrote this book for them, but it applies to anyone who searches for courage and hope, struggles with a difficult relationship, or suffers through pain or loss.
