✝️ OFFICIAL SUNDAY OPEN THREAD

Recognizing The Sacrifice Made On Our Behalf

jjj

his past Monday, we honored our fallen soldiers and lifted them up for the ultimate sacrifice they made for our nation and our freedoms. Memorial Day, in and of itself, serves as a living memorial, helping us to pause and reflect every year.

The Bible is likewise filled with memorials the Lord has established to help us remember not only the past work He has done through His people but also the future work He will do as prophesied. The Old Testament provides many examples of memorials God gave His people to help them remember His work and mighty deeds.

We can go all the way back to Genesis, when God placed a rainbow in the sky to commemorate His promise not to ever again destroy the Earth with a flood. The Jewish people still commemorate the Passover thousands of years after the Exodus. We can look at the twelve stones piled after Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land. We can talk about how Esther bravely rescued her exiled people in Persia, a story celebrated to this day as Purim. God instituted these commemorations, and many more, so that His people would reflect on His loving-kindness and mercy.

✪ The Ultimate Sacrifice

Today, the Church remembers Christ’s atoning sacrifice on every Sunday, the Lord’s Day. We spend the Easter season gathering to commemorate our Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection. We remember not only His victory over death but also our freedom in Christ and the promise of His coming to rapture the church, when Jesus will grant resurrected bodies to all who are saved.

Jesus once said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Those who make the ultimate sacrifice have demonstrated the ultimate act of love. We are so blessed as a Judeo-Christian nation, we can collectively observe Memorial Day and remember our fallen soldiers, who made such a sacrifice so that we can enjoy religious freedom today.

During Veterans Day, we honor those who have served. However Memorial Day is even more special; as it honors those who fell while standing in harm’s way. They gave “the last full measure of devotion,” as Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address. Our nation’s defenders have laid down their lives in sacrifice for our liberty and freedom many times. Many of them served not only to defend the Constitution but also to protect their loved ones and their fellow soldiers beside them. And yet, whatever their reasons, all of them served a cause greater than themselves.

The sacrifices our military men and women have made should also remind us of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who willingly laid down His life to atone for the sins of the world. While it is fitting and right that we honor those who have fallen to defend our liberty and freedoms, we should also reflect on what Christ gave up so we may be saved and inherit eternal life.

✪ The Ultimate Challenge

For those of us who remain behind to honor the service of our fallen military members, we should live in ways which honor their memories. Perhaps we should be challenged to ask ourselves, “Am I living in such a way as to justify the sacrifice that was made on my behalf?”

Jesus also made the ultimate sacrifice by dying on the cross for our sins. When you place your faith and trust in Jesus, your sins will be forgiven, and you will inherit eternal life. The ultimate soldier; King Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords laid down his life so we may be saved. If you have not yet done so, reach out to Jesus today; that this week become your own personal Memorial Day, when you look back and remember, “Today was the day I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and King.” ✪