Have I not
commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be frightened, and do
not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
As our nation celebrates Veteran’s Day, we have the
privilege to say “thank you” and offer our collective debt to our fellow
citizens who have served our country well.
We live in a country that offers far too much honor and recognition to
sports figures, movie stars, music and TV personalities whom we misguidedly
call “heroes and role models.” On this
one day of the year, we thank our Veterans and remember their bravery and
courage – but this day should inspire and encourage us to honor our Veterans –
our true heroes and recognize them as role models for they are truly the finest
soldiers in the world.
Veterans Day must never be relegated to a one-day
remembrance but a daily prayer of thanksgiving to God for the men and women -
our grandparents and great grandparents, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters,
husbands and wives, sons and daughters - whom we honor as we live in the
freedom they have given to us with the gift of themselves to serve both God and
country.
So as this Veterans Day evokes such great emotion and
patriotism, I pray that it also leads us to seek the comfort and promises of
God as we honor our heroes to the glory of Jesus Christ.
In Joshua chapter 1, we find Joshua, mourning his mentor and
friend, Moses, who had died; but his greatest challenges still were ahead of
him – the Promised Land wasn’t theirs yet; there were battles to be fought, a
war to be waged – but all he had to do was remember the promise God had given
him.
“The Lord your God is with you wherever you go”. That is the promise Joshua held onto, the
promise our Veterans held onto as they served God and our country, and the
promise that all of us as Christians hold onto as we live daily in the freedom
God has given us through the service of our Veterans.
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