Yesterday the school had a blood drive, and one of my professors offered extra credit to students who donated blood. I didn’t know if I’d be eligible, but from the requirements on the Red Cross website, it looked like I would. The one thing that I suspected might keep me from giving blood was low iron levels. To prevent this, my roommate and I looked up what foods would increase our iron… and what of those foods we could actually eat. We had in the room cereal that contained 100% daily iron in one cup and half of an entire watermelon that our other roommate bought for a picnic. (College life. Don’t ask.) We also read that tea and coffee prevent iron absorption and that vitamin C (found in citrus fruits and fruit juice) increases it. Not only did we find this information, we also put it into action at mealtimes.

When I was finally done with classes, I headed over to the makeshift Red Cross station, excited at the possibility of saving lives. After I waited for about half an hour, a volunteer took down my personal information. Then she told me that I did not meet the height and weight requirements and would be ineligible to donate blood. I was confused because of what I’d read online. Apparently the minimum weight on the Red Cross official website is a bit below what the actual requirement is, and the real requirement is kept secret since the volunteers don’t use scales and don’t want people lying and then passing out. I thanked the worker and left very disappointed that I couldn’t donate (and a little annoyed at the Red Cross for wasting half an hour of my time just because nobody thought to just be transparent and bring a scale). Then I had to put up with people joking about how I need a freshman fifteen for the rest of the day. (The short-person jokes aren’t worth mentioning because I’m used to that by now.) I’ll admit that a few other disappointing or frustrating things happened yesterday that also helped put me in a bit of a bad mood. Nothing like an emo-ish walk in rainy woods to make oneself feel better, I guess.

After getting over my bad day, I started to appreciate the fact that there are requirements for who can donate blood and what is (and isn’t) in their blood. My blood won’t be able to heal if it is infected or anemic. Furthermore, it won’t do any good healing someone else if my physical characteristics mean that losing it puts me in danger. In the same way, Jesus’ blood is the only cure for sinful humans in need of spiritual healing and righteousness.  Just as Red Cross donors must have pure blood and meet personal requirements, the Savior had to be spiritually pure and had to represent humanity before God. His blood is acceptable to God because He is without blemishes or impurities (1 Peter 1:19), and His blood is sufficient for us because He took on our humanity (Hebrews 2:14, 18). Isn’t it kinda cheesy to talk about Jesus as a “blood donor”? Yeah, maybe a little. But it’s true that His sacrifice saves lives. He saved and is healing mine.

Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus