As you are reading this,
tomorrow is Memorial Day. It is an annual day set aside by America for
the purpose of reminding us of things that we should never forget. And,
if you’re like me, forgetting seems to come all too easy anymore. If
there were not an occasion set in place to cause us to remember something, I
can assure you that it would soon fade from our memory and be lost.
We can see the very
proof of that by going to the Bible and looking at ancient Israel as an example
of man’s propensity to forget important things if not prompted by a
memorial. Old Israel was told many times over by God to teach the younger
generations about His law, His greatness and about the miracles He had done in
their behalf. (Example: Deut. 6:12)
He commanded them to
observe certain days and times for the specific purpose of reminding them of
those things. So that they, being human beings, would not forget.
They were also told the consequences of not observing the memorial events
because, if they did, they would drift away from Him and be lost.
You see, God knows how
the mind of man works because He created it. He knew that if there
weren’t certain times or certain monuments set aside for man to observe, he
would forget what had happened. And that still remains the case.
That we need these times and monuments to remind us that something of
significance has occurred that needs to be remembered and honored.
Having said that, what
we are remembering and honoring this Memorial Day is the sacrifice of those who
had died in the service of our country. Those who, as President Lincoln
said it, gave their “last full
measure of devotion.” But, not only do we honor those whose
lives were lost in our wars, we also honor all those who served in our
military. Who put their lives on the line, so to speak, so that we enjoy
the freedoms we have today.
Earlier I mentioned
ancient Israel and I’d like to point out something more about them. They
did “forget” the occasions God had told them to observe and they eventually
reached the point where they forgot all that He had done for them and they
stopped honoring Him. They paid a heavy price for having done so.
But, by looking at the way much of our society today operates today, I’m afraid
that we are, in principle, becoming like Israel of old.
It just seems to me that
a large portion of our society is more concerned with having an extra day off
of work and partying rather than honoring our military heroes. With
exceptions of course, it just looks to me like most of those attending the
ceremonies and memorial events are like me, the older generation. Maybe
my perspective is wrong on this, but I don’t think so and it bothers me.
Well, lets look at the
details of this occasion. In order to help us not forget the sacrifices
of our soldiers, sailors and airmen, our government set aside a day each year,
a “Memorial Day,” specifically for that purpose. Originally it was known
as “Decoration Day” because of the tradition of decorating the graves of the
military dead.
It also started off
being observed on May the 30th of each year but, in 1971 it was changed to the
“last Monday of May.” I don’t know the official reason given for the
change, however it very conveniently created a three-day weekend, didn’t it?
Here again, it’s my personal opinion, but I feel that this act lessened the
meaning of the occasion.
But back to my thoughts
on the “graves” of our departed heroes. I’m reminded of a letter written
home by a sergeant just after WW2 came to an end. In it he talked about
how happy he was that it was over and that he would be coming home to his loved
ones.
But then he wrote that
he couldn’t help but think about his buddies left over there on the
battlefields. The ones who would not be coming home. He remarked
that they would never know the joy and elation that he was feeling nor would
they realize how much their sacrifice meant to the nation.
Let me just quote one
paragraph of his letter to you and I think you’ll easily see how he thought of
their sacrifice and the importance of this day of remembering them. He
wrote: “These boys who sleep
now in many foreign lands are the ones to whom the world should turn and be
eternally grateful. They too, dreamed of their homes, wives and
sweethearts and longed for the day when they could go back. Today, the
world must remember them - and tomorrow, the next day and forever! The
day the world forgets, they will have died in vain.”
After recalling the
Sgt’s letter, I also remembered something said by Gen. George Patton regarding
the soldiers killed in battle. He said that “instead of mourning them, we should thank God that such
men lived.” I can only say that, as I will be in our nation’s
capital again this Memorial Day, I will do exactly that - “thank God” that those we’re
honoring lived, but I will also never forget that they died for all the
freedoms that I enjoy.
However, our remembrance
of the deaths of our fellow humans in our behalf during our nation’s wars, this
should cause us to remember a death, a sacrifice, that has far more import and
meaning to us. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins.
In essence, taking our place.
And we have a “memorial
service” ordained and set aside specifically for the purpose of NOT forgetting
it. We observe it every Lord’s Day as proscribed by the scriptures.
(Acts 20:7 & 1Cor. 11) Should we ever start neglecting this
memorial, I’m certain that His sacrifice will be forgotten and that He will
have “died in vain.”
Yet, in relation to the sacrificial death of Christ, I can also echo the words
of Gen. Patton and say, “Thank
God He lived.”
Should that happen, I
can only borrow some words of the Apostle Paul and say that “of all people, we are most miserable”
because we will have lost our Way to heaven. I can say that because God’s
Word says: “The wicked shall
be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
(Psa. 9:17)
Respectfully submitted,
Ron Covey
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