Word of the Week - Sacrifice

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” 1 John 3:16

This holiday weekend we celebrate something that I think is sometimes hard for many of us to comprehend:  the sacrifice of soldiers' lives for the sake of our freedom. In recent years I've heard many conflicted views on this matter. But I think it would be a mistake to see these brave men and women as merely victims. While each fallen soldier has a unique story, each soldier is a hero who willingly laid down his or her life for a greater cause.  I think part of our struggle to understand the fallen soldier comes with our difficulty in accepting sacrifice, especially when a sacrifice seems so final and appears to hold no obvious reward. The idea that someone could give up everything - for people they don’t even know - is hard to process. We spend so much of life trying to gain, to acquire, to win. Our country is home to the American Dream, the land of opportunity. So contemplating the fallen solider can feel uncomfortable, even confusing but it important to remember the Sacrifice, which should give us a heart of appreciation and gratitude.So on this Memorial Day we remember the 1.2 million men an women who have made the ultimate Sacrifice by giving their lives in service of our Country, I am reminded of the sobering reality of the true price of freedom, and how fortunate we are to live in the United States of American, “the land of the free” because of the price others paid for our freedom.  I am very grateful and humbled by this amazing reality.  In a similar frame, I am even more grateful for the fact that God freely chose to come down to earth in the flesh as Jesus our Messiah and was crucified for our sins, so we can have eternal freedom (salvation) and live with God forever.  “For it is for Freedom that Christ set us free” Galatians 5:1.  “You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” Galatians 5:13.  Let us remember who God is and what He has done for us through the Cross and let this be our motivation to live the great commandment to “Love God and Love others” by serving God and others in Love.  Lord, I pray that we would remember and understand the reality of what others have done for us as Americans and even more amazingly what you have done for us as Christians and never forget the suffering you endured for our benefit.  Let us receive the fullness of your love and Sacrifice.Jesus the Messiah who Died to give us Life and Freedom both now and for Eternity, the ultimate Sacrifice.-Duane