I Do NOT Forget

In a few days we’ll observe Memorial Day – a day to remember those who have died in the service of our country. It’s all too easy to forget them and their sacrifice, which is what led Sylvia Mohr to write to www.usmemorialday.org:

“This weekend I am going to do something different. I am going to buy some carnations each day and go to one of the nearby cemeteries and walk through the sections for soldiers. When I find a grave that has no flowers, I'll leave one and say a prayer for the family of that person, who for some reason could not bring their soldier flowers. I will pray for our country and all who serve or have served. For their families, who also serve by losing precious days, weeks and months spent with their loved ones who are off serving, preserving peace and the freedom we have in this country. I'll pray for the families who paid the ultimate price, whose loved ones died, or were taken captive and never returned. I'll pray for anyone who may still be held in captivity and thinks perhaps they are forgotten. I do NOT forget...”

There’s another group of veterans who sacrificed their lives in the service of a country they had not yet seen. Hebrews 11 lists many heroes of the faith – Abraham, who, like a good soldier, “when called to go... obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” And after him came an innumerable host who “through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice...escaped the edge of the sword;
whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.” Other heroes were tortured and refused to be released... faced jeers and flogging...were chained and put in prison...went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – the world was not worthy of them.”

No, the world was not worthy of them. So on Memorial Day, remember not only the heroes of America, but the heroes of our faith. We can’t plant flowers on their graves or visit a memorial in their honor...but we can revisit Hebrews 11 and think about their vital contribution to our spiritual heritage. We can find a few quiet moments to spend in prayer, thanking God for the faith and courageous example of these men and women. We can pick up a biography of a Christian martyr or begin a Bible study on one of Hebrews’ heroes.

How blessed we are to be surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses! How privileged to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of these who lived and died for a better country – a heavenly one - so that it can be said of us, too, “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

This Memorial Day, “I do NOT forget.”