Christian Action League
Memory is a strange and mysterious gift. Psychologists tell us that it is not really a storehouse or a file which we fill and empty at will. Rather, it is a process by which we rehearse past experiences and call up old associations. And yet, we do forget! Even important things gradually fade away. That’s one reason why we have days set aside like Memorial Day. They are memory aids. Even with their help, we find ourselves forgetting things we had hoped we would remember.
Decoration Day emerged from the shadows of the War Between the States. It was first observed in the South. Before the close of the war, a group of women decorated the graves of those who had died in that war. A few years later, in 1868, May 30 was set aside as a day for placing flowers on the graves of soldiers throughout the United States of America. They decorated the graves.
Soon Decoration Day was observed all over the country. Since World War I, this day in May has been used to honor the fallen dead of our wars. We ought to honor these heroes of the past. We should remember the price that they have paid for all that we enjoy today. Parents, perhaps this Memorial Day you should take your children to some cemetery. Be sure that they understand that others gave their lives in sacrifice. This great heritage of ours has cost far more than they will understand.
How quickly we forget. We forget how much we owe to our country. But even more tragic, we forget how much we owe to our God. Each Lord’s Day should be a memorial day, to remind us of God’s mercies. A forgetful heart soon becomes a foolish heart. An ungrateful attitude soon becomes a highway to ungodly living.
The person or nation that forgets God is as foolish and trouble-bound as the one who forgets that a red light means “stop” or that he can quench his thirst at a drinking fountain. (Taken from “A Time to Remember” by George Sweeting, Moody Press)
This weekend, as we remember the soldiers who died to make us free, let us also remember that Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross makes people free – free from the enslaving power of sin – free from sin’s penalty, which is death and judgment. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath sent me…to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke. 4:18). Christ gives an internal freedom. And the liberty that Christ gives to the soul and the moral ethic of civil liberty and freedom are inextricably locked. Because we are a self-governed nation, the later cannot be long-sustained without recognition of the first.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!