Memorial Day just passed, and the nursery school teacher took the opportunity to tell her class about patriotism. “We live in a great country,” she said. “One of the things we should be happy is that, in this country, we are all free.”
One little boy came walking up to her from the back of the room. He stood with his hands on his hips and said, . . . “I’m not free. I’m four.”
On this day, those of us who live in the U.S. celebrate Memorial Day. It is not a day that was established for grilling hamburgers, taking a trip to the beach, or to mark the official start of the summer tourist season.
It was a day that was established so that we might remember. That we might remember the ultimate cost which was paid by so many men and women that we might enjoy the precious gift of freedom.
As we remember their sacrifice (and the freedom we enjoy as a result), may we also remember the sacrifice of another. One who gave His life so we might know true freedom. These words from the song “Freedom’s Never Free”
by Phillips, Craig and Dean are especially appropriate today:
Standing on a hillside where the river meets the sea, White crosses without number line the fields of peace, Each one a silent witness staring back at me, Every cross a story of another place in time Where young men thought it worthy to give their life for mine, And for the sake of honor left their dreams behind, And for the price they paid I’m forever in their debt, Their memory will not die ’cause I will not forget —
I will stand and hold my head up high I will dedicate my life to the glory of the ones who had to die I will live, live what I believe I, for no one else but me, I will remember that freedom is never free.
It was on another hillside outside the city gates, Battle lines were drawn as soldiers took their place, The Father watched in silence as a cross was raised, With freedom drawing closer, He took His final breath, He drank our cup of guilt and took the sting from death, Heaven’s Finest Soldier clothed in human flesh, And for the price He paid I’m forever in His debt, The cross will never die ’cause I will not forget —
I will stand and hold my head up high I will dedicate my life to the glory of the One who had to die, I will live, live what I believe, I, for no one else but me, I will remember that freedom’s never free.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free…” (Gal 5:1a)
Have a great day!
Alan Smith