We Give Thanks

By Pastor Eric

Today is Veterans Day, a day in which we remember and give thanks for the men and women who serve our country both past and present. This is a day to give God thanks for those who have made a decision to stand in the gap, putting themselves in harm’s way, and putting their very lives at risk to protect and defend the way of life we enjoy here in the United States. We give thanks for the freedoms that are protected by their selfless service, especially the freedom to worship and gather as a body of believers without fear of persecution or oppression. We have the freedom to proclaim what we believe and to so without the fear of being silenced.  

As we reflect on the amazing gift of freedom we enjoy in this country, may we remember the men and women and their families who sacrifice so much for those freedoms. Our freedoms truly do come at cost and these brave souls cover and protect that cost. Below is a post that was shared with me this week:

“Ever wonder why Veterans day is on the 11th of November and never changes? World War I ended on the 11th month, on the 11th day, and at the 11th hour. Today I saw a man selling poppies who stopped a lady on the street and asked if he could reposition her poppy which was pinned on her jacket. While doing so, he told her that she should wear it on her right side; red representing the blood of those who gave their lives, the black representing the mourning of those who did not return home, and the green leaf representing the grass and crops growing and the future prosperity after the war destroyed so much. The leaf should be positioned at the 11 o’clock position to represent the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the time that World War 1 formally ended. The man was worried that the younger generation wouldnt understand this and that his generation wouldn’t be around for much longer to teach them. We must remember and share or it will be lost forever!”

But there was a greater cost that had to be paid–a debt that could not and cannot be paid by any of us. That cost was the redemption of all believers from sin. God loved his people so much that he sent his own son into the world to “stand in the gap,” to pay the debt for our sins. Jesus Christ paid for our debts on the cross, forever changing the world and each of us! We give Jesus thanks today for the amazing freedom we have in his work on the cross and his return from the grave. Thank you Jesus! 

Today we remember and give God thanks for the men and women who have placed themselves and continue to place themselves between us and the enemies of the world, protecting the freedoms we enjoy in this country everyday. 

Let us not take the amazing gift of grace that comes through Jesus Christ or the sacrifice of the few for the many for granted, but to always give thanks! 

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

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