The Christian's Memorial Day

Monday we will celebrate Memorial Day to honor the fallen soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. Then the sixth of June will be the anniversary of the invasion of Normandy in WWII. This was the greatest military operation ever undertaken. It involved thousands of ships and over a million men. Within 11 months and one day of the invasion (May 7, 1945), Germany signed an unconditional surrender. There was a major difference between Hitler's invasion of France and the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944. Hitler's purpose was to conquer, but the Allies' purpose was to set free.

Against the backdrop of Memorial Day and the anniversary of D-Day, it would be good for us to also remember our bondage and liberation from sin, and the price paid for our freedom.

Sin started in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-6), and man became enslaved in it (Romans 6:16). Of course, sin still enslaves today. It burdens us with guilt, hardness of heart, helplessness, and hopelessness.

It is interesting that when we are set free from sin, we become servants to Another (2 Corinthians 5:14). "But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness" (Romans 6:17-18).

What is the Christian's Memorial Day? "This do in remembrance of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Our Memorial Day takes place on the first day of every week (Acts 20:7). We need to remember that freedom can be lost (Isaiah 59:1,2; 2 Peter 1:10). We also need to remember that we have been liberated from the guilt of sin by obedience (Romans 6:17). This "liberation" came at a dreadful cost (Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25). We must remember the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is also a reminder to examine ourselves. Have I drifted? In view of His sacrifice, am I giving of myself and my means properly? Do I need to come back to the Lord?

Some of the bloodiest fighting on D-Day took place at Omaha beach all those years ago. There is a guest book at the American cemetery there in which a guest once wrote "The price of freedom." That says it all. Yet, that sacrifice in a small way illustrates the great sacrifice Jesus made on Calvary's cross by the shedding of His blood. Have you been washed in the blood?