This Memorial Day we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to purchase, provide and protect the freedoms Americans currently enjoy. From Yorktown to Normandy to Iraq and Afghanistan, when freedom was threatened the American military responded. Some brave men and women died defending this nation they loved. They died defending us.
Today we honor them and their legacy. We honor them by sharing stories about these heroes. We honor them by praying for the families who are grieving their loved ones. We honor them by standing for freedom when it is attacked from within and without. We honor them by telling our children and grandchildren how much freedom costs. We honor them by praying for our troops. We honor them by saluting the flag with a hand over our hearts and a tear in our eye.
One of humanity’s most noble character traits is self-sacrifice for the good of others. Something deep within the human heart realizes how courageous it is to put oneself in harm’s way to save another. I am convinced that “that something” is the image of God given to humanity at creation because it reflects the character of Almighty God.
Jesus left the glories of heaven to come on a rescue mission to set us free from the captivity of our sins. He willingly and courageously took our sin and death upon Himself on that old rugged cross. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus paid the ultimate price to purchase freedom for all who believe. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Today, we express our gratitude to the Lord for dying in our place to set us free for eternity. Today, we express our gratitude to the members of the American military who gave their lives to keep this country free.
This day means much more than cookouts, road trips and a long weekend. It is a day to remember and honor our nation’s fallen heroes. Perhaps it will help you to reflect on the first and last stanzas of Francis Scott Key’s “Star Spangled Banner” this Memorial Day.
“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
“O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”