Grace For The Journey

Today is Veterans Day.  I would like to use today’s blog to honor our Veterans with a special tribute and “Thank You!” to the brave men and women of our armed forces who serve and sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy.

Yet a tribute, even a national holiday today, is hardly enough to declare just how thankful we ought to be for the unimaginable sacrifices all of our veterans have made.

This day of honor began on “The 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918…” when an armistice (the temporary cessation of battle) was declared between the Allied forces and Germany, ending World War I.  The following year, November 11 was set aside as Armistice Day, making it a legal holiday.  In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a day honoring all veterans who served in all wars.

Here is a fact that few of us know, because we live in a culture that cares less and less for the things of God.  On June 4, 1926, Congress passed a resolution that the recurring anniversary of November 11, 1918, “Should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer.”  

That is what we all should do – Not only on Veterans Day,

But every day throughout the year.

 We ought to thank our God for the great gift of the countless brave men and women who served and sacrificed to secure our freedom and pray for them and their families.

As a pastor, I am frequently asked – “Why does God allow so many wars?” The answer, of course, is found in the Bible’s account of Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden, and it is rooted in a single word: SIN!   When Adam and Eve chose to do what they wanted to do rather than what God commanded them to do, sin entered this world and broke everything, including man, the image-bearers of God.

The Bible tells us in James 4:1-3, “Where do wars and fights come from among?  Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  You lust and do not have.  You murder and covet and cannot obtain.  You fight and war.  Yet you do not have because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

It wasn’t long after Adam and Eve sinned that Cain, the firstborn of our first parents, killed his younger brother, Abel.  From that moment on, the pages of Scripture and written history are filled with wars.

But, there is a day coming when no one will serve in any armed forces anywhere, because Jesus fought and won the ultimate battle against sin, Satan, and death itself!  Hanging on the cross, Jesus took all the punishment for our sin and became the death of death. On the third day, He rose from the grave, proof positive that God the Father was fully pleased with Christ’s atoning work.  And what Jesus began in His first coming, He will finish in His second; there will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more wars, and no more death.  The lion will lie down with the lamb, and peace will reign forever and ever.

Until that day, let us pause and thank our God for the great gift of our veterans.  In this great nation, God blesses us by raising up men and women of courage and commitment who are willing to pay the ultimate price to ensure our freedom by serving in our armed forces.  Let us salute all those who have served.  Let us thank God for them and pray for them and their families.  And let us never forget all those who have fought for our freedom – all paying some . . . and some paying all.

May God bless every veteran—not only on this day, but every day.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”