"Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by
not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command
you today, lest--when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful
houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and
your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;
when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you
out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ...... that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good
in the end-- then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand
have gained me this wealth.'
I trust that you read the above verses from Deuteronomy
very carefully! Moses was giving the nation of Israel final instructions just
before they entered the Promise Land with Joshua. You can’t help but notice the
warning he gave very clearly: "Beware that you do not forget…”. As
you read and think about this passage you have to conclude that it can be a
very dangerous thing to forget certain things!
“America is great because America is good. If America ever
ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!” A world renown philosopher
in the early 1800’s made this statement. America was good because it was built
on the foundation of God’s Word and God blessed America. It was founded on the
principles of respect and reverence for God, respect for people, respect for
life, individual responsibility and personal disciplines. People understood
that they were accountable to one another and believed that one day they would
have to stand before a Holy God and give a personal account of their lives.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and
ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they release
evil and death upon the whole human race. Romans 12:21 gives us the formula for
dealing with evil: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with
good.” God has used America and our military to confront evil in the world
over these past several hundred years.
Think about it. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, the only
perfect and good Person who ever lived to deal with the very essence of evil
and sin! On the cross Jesus paid the price for sin with His death and overcame
death, sin, the grave and hell by His resurrection! Because of God’s great
goodness we can now enjoy freedom from the power of evil through the blood of
Jesus Christ and His resurrection!
Today, as we remember the 656,000 plus Americans that died
in battle from the Revolutionary War through the Post 911 Gulf Wars, we are
thankful and grateful that they made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives so
we could enjoy the freedoms we have in this great country! Freedom is not free!
It is very costly!
Today, each of us as individuals can deal with the evil
around us by receiving God’s goodness and salvation through Jesus Christ and
then we can overcome the evil with His goodness as we let His light shine out
of us with good deeds. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
At 8 am in the morning, I personally have the opportunity to
join with some veterans in my military community, Sneads Ferry NC, Mimosa Bay
just outside Camp Lejeune, to get on some boats and go out to an island on
Alligator Bay located on the Intracoastal Waterway and hold a memorial service.
For this past two years I’ve been asked to say a few words and have a prayer as
we remember those who died in service for our country. It is a very special
time.
I trust you will take the time today, in some way with your
family, to remember the price that was paid for our freedom in America!
God bless!
