A few years ago, I was having lunch with my parents. Suddenly my Dad got up during the meal and went to the cash register to pay. Odd time to pay for lunch.
When he sat back down, I asked him why he payed so early. He quietly looked at the gentleman sitting at another table and said, “I’m paying for his meal.”
There he sat – alone – finishing lunch from his wheel chair. It was clear he was a vet from the Vietnam era, as was my Dad.
Dad proceeded to teach me an adult lesson I’ve never forgotten, “Whenever the opportunity presents itself, buy a meal for a vet. It’s the least we can do.”
My family and I visited Washington, DC this summer.
Touring the monuments. Reading the inscriptions at the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, etc. filled me with awe. Our nation was formed and sustained by God fearing, brave men and women of courage and resolve. Men and women who dedicated their lives to something bigger than themselves. Truly, I was inspired afresh.
The physical freedoms we enjoy in our country today are because of the veterans. We’re free to be politically correct. We’re free to be politically incorrect. We’re free to vote for whomever we choose. We’re free to live wherever we want. We’re free to have as many children as we choose. We’re free!
The Gettysburg Address – full of references to God.
Interesting how veterans are a beautiful example of the sacrifice Jesus made for us to be spiritually free. Through Jesus’ sacrifice (if you belong to Christ), we are:
- free from sin’s penalty,
- free from God’s wrath,
- free from the guilt of sin,
- free from a yoke of slavery to break the power of recurring sin in your life
- free to live in peace and joy.
We can have a relationship with God because of Jesus. His sacrifice made us right with God.
No small thing!
Romans 3:26 says, “God declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.”
- Take time to thank Jesus for His sacrifice made personally for you.
- Be bold and thank a veteran or service member regardless if it’s Veterans Day or not. I know it’s awkward to walk up to a stranger to thank them, but as my Dad says, “It’s the least we can do.”
PS. If you want to know how to enter into the freedom Christ died to give you, click here. It’s the most important “click” you could make.