Something Worth Remembering

As we close in on the Memorial Day weekend in a few short days, it's a good time to pause and recall how this special day has a somber edge to it. While it's often seen as a transition point between spring and early summer, the day is one of extreme significance in the history of our nation.

While Memorial Day may not have a personal connection to you due to self or family serving in the military, the fact that people do serve makes the military something that impacts all of us. All one needs to do is consider how important it is that men and women are willing to answer the call to protect our country. In so doing they sacrifice their time, their strength, and sometimes their very lives to defend us, which is something that affects us all right here and now.

It would be nice if it didn't have to be that way. It would be great if men and women didn't have to leave their families to go to war, to suffer physical, emotional, and mental trauma that can sometimes last a lifetime. It would be wonderful if no one had to give the ultimate sacrifice and never come home. But the evil of armed conflict is real, and chances are wars and rumors of wars will be with us for the foreseeable future.

That's why this coming Memorial Day we need to remember and honor those who made great sacrifices so we can live free. To honor them we need to make our lives count; we need to make sure their sacrifices weren't in vain.

And as we remember these valiant souls, it naturally reminds of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ -- the One who made the ultimate sacrifice for us all. The deaths of the men and women we will honor this coming Monday protected our earthly freedom, but Jesus laid down His life to protect our eternal liberty, to pay the price for our sins, to guarantee us eternal life in a perfect world where sin, crime and the ravages of death will be no more.

What's Memorial Day mean to you?

Are there those you know who've paid a heavy price for their military service?

Are you one of them?

On Monday, May 29, Memorial Day, our nation honors the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. May God bless them richly.

Take a moment and let us know what Memorial Day and military service mean to you. You can do so by clicking here and commenting on the Men's NetWork blog.