Are you thirsty?

Pirates are bloodthirsty.

The classic image of pirates is that they are mean, bloodthirsty, and cruel. Modern media have romanticized their image to being handsome and daring. But the classic pirate captains of yore were historically people who wouldn't think twice about killing people. Are you familiar with the phrase "keelhauling"? It's in the lingo of pirates and used in the context of a threatened punishment. This actually happened, and involved tying ropes on the victim and dragging him along the hull of the ship from bow to stern. Besides the risk of drowning, the ships usually had barnacles attached to the hull, and the keelhauling victim would have their skin shredded by being dragged along the sharp shells. Pirates can rightly be pictured as bloodthirsty.

We should be bloodthirsty as well. What, you think this isn't exactly a Christian trait? Well, you're wrong. We should thirst for the blood of Jesus. We should desire to have His blood wash over us, because this means that our sins are forgiven and we can have a place next to God in Heaven. Without that blood, we are lost and forever separated from our Creator. Only through that blood can we receive His grace and mercy. The blood shed by Jesus on the cross is the only thing that can save us from what we deserve, the only thing that will keep us from damnation. Thankfully, the gift of the blood was freely given, and all we have to do is accept it. Shouldn't we be bloodthirsty for Christ?

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:13-15)