Today is Memorial Day. Memorial Day is the day on which those who died in active military service are remembered. It was traditionally observed on May 30 but now officially observed in the United States on the last Monday in May.
President James Garfield wrote: “For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”
Unfortunately, Memorial Day is now seen as less a day of honor and more as the beginning of summer and vacations. Last Friday was the busiest day TSA has seen. More than 2.9 million air travelers set a record for the highest number of air travelers screened in a single day. And while the skies were busy, the roads were even more so.
There will be ceremonies across the nation honoring our fallen military, but largely they will go unnoticed except by a few in comparison to those who flood our campgrounds, parks, and beaches.
Yet, it is vitally important that we do notice those who gave their lives. If we fail to remember what our national freedom cost, we will fail to preserve our freedom at all costs!
(And as a reminder, Galatians 5:1 proclaims our spiritual freedom and what it cost. “Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.”)
Let us never forget and always honor those who sacrificed their lives for us! Both for our national freedom, and our LORD and Savior for our eternal spiritual freedom. Amen.
