Remember

When I was young, it was called Decoration Day, today we refer to the last Monday in May as Memorial Day.  This day is set aside by our government to remember all who have fallen in the field of battle, protecting our freedom and defending the rights of others.  It was meant to be a time when we paused to think about the ultimate sacrifice of so many of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.

It is a day to remember the cost and the payment for our freedom.  As the words of the 1992 Billy Ray Cyrus song, "All gave some and some gave all."  So many have given up their freedom to live that we might live in freedom.  Someone once said, "Only two defining forces have ever died for you: Jesus the Christ and the American Soldier - Jesus died for your soul and the Soldier for your freedom.

Indeed, freedom isn't free.  In order for us to be free from the curse of sin and tthe grip of Satan, God "has reconciled you by Christt's physical body througgh deatth tto present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (Col 1:22).  Likewise, from the American Revolution to current war on terror, the American Soldier lays down his/her life that we might remain a free people.

The irony of the radical Islamist who seek to destroy our country and way of life is that America is one of the few places where a Muslim can experience freedom to practice their faith in the manner they choose.  In Muslim dominated countries, you must adhere to the particular Muslim bent of the majority rule: Sunni or Shia.  And there are radical forms of each, which kill Muslims that do not conform to their bent of Islam.

In America you can be a Sunni or a Shia or a Bhuddist or a Hindu or a Mormon, and for the moment, even a Christian.  We have that freedom because so many have died to protect it.  We need to take time to honor them in remembrance of what they have done and by devoting ourselves to maintaining the freedom they have purchased with their blood.

The godless Islamists are warring against our freedom from without and godless humanism wars against it from within.  There are many forces at work to take away our religious freedom to worship and serve God according to our individual faith.

Christians fleeing the religious tyranny of Europe, founded this country in order that they and all who would come after them might enjoy religious and political freedom, which comes not from a proclamation of the state but the proclamation of the Sovereign God: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (Preamble to our Declaration of Independence).

Don't forget to  remember those who died to defend these God-given rights.  And remember not to forget that God is the Source of our freedom.  Jus' Say'n.