On Memorial Day, we take the time to pay respects to those
who have fought for us and all of our freedoms. Those men and women who have
lost their lives for our nation deserve the utmost respect for their
sacrifices.
Our Lord said, “Greater love has no man than this, than to
lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Jesus understood this better than anyone. He did just what
He stated in the verse above. He loved everyone in the world so much, that He
was willing to die for us.
At the beginning of our nation, our founding fathers fought
to be free from a government which sought to control everyone. Jesus fought
spiritually for us to be free from Satan’s oppression of sin—if we choose to
love and obey him. (Romans 6:7-9)
His sacrifice was so great that He claimed the ultimate
victory over sin (Romans 6:8-10). While the victor has been declared, all
humanity now has a choice which side they will choose: the winning side, or the
losing side. There is no middle ground to stand on, or fence to straddle. These
belong to Satan.
For us to be free, we must make a choice. The Christian life
requires sacrificing those things that hurt God. Do we want God in our lives to
the point that we’re willing to do whatever He asks? Because that is what it
takes! (John 14:15, 21-24, Matthew 10:37-40)
The world so often pushes things that we deem important, but
in view of eternity, mean very little: love (romantic), money, jobs, social
status, and sex. Not to say that any of these things are necessarily bad in and
of themselves, but are we using them in the way God intended us to have them? Also, just because we want these things, doesn’t
mean we should have them. That is what gets people in trouble
spiritually-people think they are entitled to something and so therefore they
do anything they can to get it.
On the warfront physically, and spiritually, you’re not
entitled to anything. As a matter of fact, for soldiers to be victorious, they
must remove all selfishness and realize that the cause is much bigger than them.
“Finally, my brethren,
put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. For we do not wrestle against principalities, against powers, but
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to
stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the
breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of
the Gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of
salvation, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God; praying always
with all prayer and supplication for all the saints…” –Ephesians 6:10-18
It’s not about us. It’s about God, and sharing His message
of salvation to mankind (Mark 16:15). Just as a soldier in a war, we as
Christians must learn that God has given us a great task to fight for and to endure,
no matter what happens (Revelation 2:10, 1st Timothy 6:12). There may be times
when we may be afraid or be uncertain of what to do, but God will always fight
with us and give us strength (Exodus 14:14, Philippians 4:13, 2nd
Corinthians 12:9-10).
The truth is, freedom isn’t free. It isn’t free because to
gain freedom, we must realize that we need to put away selfishness and pride to
obtain it. Whether it is our freedom we have in our nation, or that we have in Christ, we must realize that freedom for both came
with a price. We must never forget that.
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