I've been known to say in the past that I wished I had been born in a different decade - particularly the 1930s or 40s. In my mind, this was a time in our recent history when it seemed like almost everything was balanced. There wasn't much confusion when it came to morals or family dynamics or work ethics. I'm not saying at all that this time period was perfect or easy. I understand that it was quite the opposite for most Americans. However, I do believe that this was one of the times that the lives of Americans were the richest and most full of meaning. People, as a whole, honored God, their families, and their country in ways that most people today have never even considered. People worked hard. They knew the value of persistence and having the right priorities. I'm convinced that these were truly the good ole days.
Yesterday, as I sat in my air conditioned church in my comfy chair sipping my coffee, it struck me how blessed my generation really is because of the sacrifices, planning, and hard work of those past generations. This realization stirred up a feeling of pride in me for the people of our country. Here's why this is so profound to me: I realized at that moment that I can (and should) have a healthy amount of pride in the people of our country who are willing to do everything they can to protect the ideals and freedoms of the rest of us. But that does not mean I have to take pride in our current government leadership or what they stand for/don't stand for. I'm proud of where we've come from. I get to relax in the shadow of men and women who literally gave up everything to set this up for us. I am not so proud of what we've come to be now as a country. We've lost sight of where our priorities should be, of what true success is, of what it means to be a family. We've forgotten how to work hard and how to honor God. We've lost sight of the things that men and women of the past held in such high importance that they were willing to give up their lives to insure that their children and grandchildren would be able to experience.
So now we have a holiday right before the end of each school year that most people just think is a nice long weekend. Yeah, we might post a "remember the true meaning" status or set up our fruit tray to look like an American flag, but is that really honoring the people who died for us? I'd like to suggest that a more respectful way to honor their lives would be to hold on tightly to the freedoms we still have, to live out priorities that make sense, and to work hard to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren to enjoy and respect.
Here's one more thought to leave you with: most people enjoy hearing stories of war heroes - perhaps those who died in order to save the lives of others. I read this morning of a man in his early twenties who laid on a grenade so that the team with him could live. People like this are truly heroes. They're the ones who maintain composure and spring into action when the rest of the world is in chaos. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to tell you about my favorite hero of all times. "While we were still weak" - lost in our chaos, facing inevitable death - "at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6) Just like all of the American war heroes who died for people who use a holiday in their honor to get drunk and play on the lake, Jesus died for people who wouldn't all even care that he did it. He didn't just die for the ones who were "good enough". He died for all of us that couldn't protect ourselves from our sin - to be clear, that is everyone. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) There is no way we could have done enough to remedy the problem of sin in our lives. No way. So Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice, literally, by willingly dying for all of us. The best part of this story, though, is that after he died so that we didn't have to experience eternal death, he wasn't finished. After three days in the grave, he came back to life. Jesus Christ was and is the ultimate hero. How do you honor the ultimate war hero? We honor him by holding on tightly to what he has given us, by living our lives in light of his priorities, and by working hard to share Jesus' story with everyone we can so that they can enjoy the same freedoms we do.
Thank you, Lord, for dying in my place and for being my Hero! I want to honor You most of all because You died to give me the eternal life I have. Please also remind me to honor, through my life, the men and women who died to give me this comfortable life in America.
May God bless America.
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