Sacrifice

As of the date of publication of this post, we're now just three days removed from one of the most misunderstood and in my estimation, one of the most important holidays that's celebrated in the United States. Americans will already know what holiday that is, but for those who don't, it's a day known to us as Memorial Day.

Throughout the country, that day is one on which you'll see people having family get-togethers for food and fun on what is usually a warm day at the end of May. Sadly, though, many of those people are simply enjoying an extra day off of work and using it for nothing more than an excuse to party, despite the fact that the real motivation behind the holiday goes far beyond just a celebration.

The first national observance of Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868, then known as Decoration Day, for the purpose of honoring Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. Today, it has evolved into a celebration of the sacrifice made by all American service members who have died in service to their country. Yes, that sacrifice is one many people will openly recognize when it's brought to their attention, but in modern times, it doesn't really seem to be the focus of the holiday for many civilians.

I was never a member of any branch of the United States military, but that wasn't a result of my own choice, as I was medically unable to enlist in the Marine Corps when I wanted to and I will be for my entire life. That, however, has never stopped me from taking the holiday as one of mourning and remembrance as it was originally intended.

I have always made sure I never overlooked the sacrifice made by all of our service members. Even the ones who don't die in battle make sacrifices nearly every day in the name of protecting the country I call home and I will never forget that. Now that I have another member of the family making a portion of that sacrifice as my brother is currently going through US Army Basic Training, that feeling has simply deepened.

As I think about the sacrifices the members of the United States Armed Forces make every day, though, and specifically, the ultimate sacrifice Memorial Day is designed to honor, I can't help but think of another sacrifice. That sacrifice, of course, being the crucifixion of Jesus. Whereas members of the United States military sacrifice their lives and many other things for the protection of our rights and the country we live in, that sacrifice was one that has a much greater impact around the world to this day, roughly 2,000 years after the fact.

Yes, the sacrifices made by members of the military are important and worthy of at least some degree of celebration and admiration, the sacrifice of Christ is one that can't be overstated. Without that sacrifice, nothing anyone does here on Earth would ever really matter. Without the willful giving of His life, we'd all be destined for the same fate, an eternal separation from God as a direct result of sin.

Yes, it's undeniably true that the sacrifice of Jesus seemed senseless on the surface due to the simple fact that He never did anything wrong and that sacrifice was made to pay the debt of sin accumulated by the rest of humanity. That simply doesn't make a lot of sense, but it does in the light of the sacrifices made by members of the military. Those sacrifices, in much the same way, are made on a daily basis for the protection of the freedoms of others.

Freedom has never been free. That statement is often made with regard to the sacrifices of our service members, but it's also true of the freedom we can achieve from sin. Just as freedom in the secular world requires the sacrifice of certain behaviors such as living within the bounds of the law of the land and unity, the freedom from sin requires similar action.

As Romans 12:1-2 puts it in the New American Standard Bible, "Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Just as the sacrifices made for our worldly freedoms deserved to be honored, so does the sacrifice of our Savior. Without that sacrifice, we're all lost. Are you honoring that sacrifice with a life of worship?

Don't get me wrong, I know I don't always succeed in my effort to do that, but at the same time, I sincerely hope it never becomes something I forget or stop trying to perfect.