For Them, For Now, Forever!
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7 ~ESV)
My friends, it is time for Christian America to remember again. It is time for us to remember that our faith, our life, our land, our eternal future comes from God. It is also time to remember our heroes.
The earthly resting places of our heroes are found in Valley Forge, Gettysburg, and Mexico City, Panama, Normandy, and the Argonne. They have died in trenches, sailing the seven seas, and in helicopter crashes on the other side of the world. For their sacrifices, these heroes, when their bodies could be found, have been given a few square feet of foreign or native soil. The names of these martyrs to freedom are inscribed on the hearts of mothers and fathers, sweethearts, wives, children, and a small marker which has been raised above their graves. All too often their sacrifice has been anonymous as the markers read: “An Unknown Soldier” or a wreath says, “Lost at Sea”. Their passing may be recorded on a bronze tablet, carved on a black stone wall in Washington, or placed in the records where the awarding of posthumous medals is recorded.
Although strictly speaking, Memorial Day is designed for those who have left us, it is not so very wrong to recall those who, although still living, have also made a sacrifice, a different sacrifice, but one which is equally significant. We call to mind those who have lost their limbs and whose prosthesis or wheelchair is a constant reminder of their gift to us. This Memorial Day, with limitless gratitude, we recall those whose minds have never returned from the battlefield and those bodies who will never leave the hospital.
This Memorial Day, before everyone forgets it is right for us to ask: “How can we best remember these who have given their all? How can we make sure these dead have not died in vain?” It is my belief, if these 1,300,000 dead could rise up from their graves and speak to us for just a moment, most of them, without hesitation, would plead: “Remember us, and remember the causes for which we fought and died.”
“Let all that I am praise the LORD; May I Never Forget the good things he does for me.” (Psalm 103:2 NLB)
From the time the first explorers set foot in North America they were given seemingly endless forests for building and for fuel; they enjoyed great rivers for trapping, travel, and transport. These first settlers were sustained by lakes filled with fish, by great herds of grazing animals, and flocks of birds so large they blotted out the sun when they took wing. For those who knew where to look the earth gave up its wealth in the form of mineral ores, metals, and oil. In many places, the soil was rich and the weather was moderate enough to provide a bounty of unprecedented produce. For almost two centuries America remembered that these bounties were God’s gifts. Remembering and resourced by these basic and abundant blessings fertile minds and far-seeing eyes came up with inventions and innovations that solved problems and created possibilities.
This is Memorial Day weekend it is only right we remember those who have fallen and died for our freedom; as it is only right that we remember Him who died so that we might forever be free from the penalty. Remember! Remember! Remember! For to that end we have done the right thing.
The Best Is Yet To Be.
Pastor Bryant