Memorial Day

Memorial Day. A day set aside for those that fought for our freedom and lost their lives in doing so. It’s a day to remember our past and the freedoms we have because of those that paid the ultimate price. Not all that went to battle came home, and some who went to battle came home and died because of what they were exposed to. My dad passed away almost 35 years after he came home from Vietnam because of his exposure to Agent Orange.

We set up a day to remember them and we probably all have different ways of doing that. It reminds me of the story in Joshua. As they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, they were getting ready to go into battle with the people already living there. Joshua sent twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel, back into the river to grab a large stone and bring it out. Once they were in the Promised Land, they built a memorial so that future generations would remember what God had done in allowing Israel to cross over on dry ground.

“And Joshua said to them, ‘Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.’”- Joshua 4:5-7.

As we celebrate this day, let it be in remembrance of those that sacrificed all for those they never knew. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” - John 15:13.

Have a great day and God bless.