This weekend is a very special time! Tomorrow, Memorial
Day, is a special day that that has been set aside to remember! So, I thought I
would jump ahead in our Joshua study to this next chapter for a few days to help
us make this a special time of remembrance.
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 and hold a memorial service. For this past two years I’ve been asked to say
a few words and have a prayer remembering those who died in service for our
country. It is a very special time.
What do you think of when you think of Memorial Day - the
beginning of summer vacation, barbecues in the back yard, family get-togethers?
In most churches Memorial Day is ignored because it is not one of the holy days
on the church calendar. But I believe that it would be good for us to consider
what Memorial Day really represents, for its very name calls us to remember.
The ability to remember is a wonderful gift God has given
us. In a flash we can be a child again, skipping rocks across a pond, or
walking in a meadow. Through memory we can fall in love, get married, &
enjoy our children all over again. All this is possible through the blessing of
memory. Some of our memories are happy as we recall wonderful experiences. But
some are sad, & we may weep as we remember them.
Memories are also very practical. If we couldn’t remember
that a red light means “stop” we’d be in trouble. If you weren’t able to
remember what day it is, or your anniversary or wife’s birthday – you’d be in
big trouble. So memories are practical. The problem, though, is that sometimes
memory fails us. Sometimes we forget. There are events that we should never
forget. And Memorial Day commemorates some of them. Many wars have been fought
in the history of our great country to both win and preserve our freedom.
This special day started near the end of the Civil War. And
within a few years the practice of placing flowers on military graves had
spread throughout both the north & south & was being called by almost
everyone, “Decoration Day.” Then, after WW1 it became a national holiday
dedicated to remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms
that we enjoy. And it is also a day upon which we remember our loved ones who
have gone on before.
God knows that we forget for to quickly and very easily. The
word “remember” is used over 148 times in the Bible. Most to time referring to
God telling His people to not forget but to remember something!!!! Here in
Joshua 4, God told Joshua and Israel to set up 12 memorial stones so that whenever
future generation saw this pile of stones, they would ask what it meant. A Memorial
represents an event, incident, time, or occasion that we should not forget. We
should set up a stone to call you back to God’s greatness, faithfulness, love,
grace, forgiveness, mercy, power and His presence in our life. We will find
many similar times in the Bible where instructed the people to do something so
they would not forget the event.
The first stone should be our spiritual birthdate! In Exodus 12:14, Israel was instructed to
remember the Passover. “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you
shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute
forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”
My spiritual birthday is February 21, 1971. On that day, I
received the Lord Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior and my life forever
changed! Do you have a spiritual birthday? If not, why not make this day that very
special day in your life!
God bless!
