Would You?

Would you sacrifice everything for others?  Not material possessions, but your very existence?  The very breath you breathe?  Would you?    

Memorial Day

Even for the well-intended, the meanings of Veterans Day and Memorial Day can get confused.  Veterans Day is a celebration of all the men and women who have served in our Armed Forces.  A special day, worthy of all who wore the uniform.    

Memorial Day is a day reserved for the remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  The ones that gave their lives in service to our country.  They wrote a check with their lives to make advance payment for EVERY single freedom we enjoy today. 

Willingness

I have no greater respect than those who have chosen, are choosing, or will choose to serve in our Armed Forces.  Everyone has the ability to serve, but only the few are willing.  I am incredibly grateful that they stand in the gap for us.  Their mere existence is why each of us can sleep peacefully each night. 

Willingness is what separates these men and women from the rest of us.  A willingness to walk into the storms of this dangerous world, knowing what is at stake each time…their own life.

A willingness powered by selfless sacrifice is the ultimate service to others.  There is no greater cause.

For All   

John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (ESV).”  I am quite certain that when it comes to our family and friends, we all share the same willingness to lay down our life.  We would trade places in the face of death, no questions asked.    

There is a great differentiator between those that we remember on Memorial Day and the rest of us.  These men and women not only gave their lives for their friends and family, but people they didn’t even know.

Their sacrifice was not exclusive to those closest to them.  The sacrifice was for the freedom of ALL….even those that believe and think differently.  EVERY freedom they sacrificed for, was for ALL.  The average person is unable to process the extent of this extraordinary sacrifice.      

Remember

Country music artist Billy Ray Cyrus has a song called Some Gave All.  It’s a tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  The chorus goes like this: 

All Gave Some, Some Gave All
Some stood through for the red, white and blue
And some had to fall
And if you ever think of me
Think of all your liberties and recall
Some Gave All   

Thinking aids in remembrance.  I pray that in the midst of my busiest days, my most selfish moments, my most critical comments, and my most opinionated tirades, that I will never forget the selfless sacrifice each one of these heroes made for me, my family, and even the people I differ in opinion with.

Conclusion

On June 6, 1944, there were 10,300 of our allied forces that made the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day.  General Dwight Eisenhower made one of the riskiest calls in world history to cross the English Channel that infamous day.  The projected casualties were staggering.  

This day would prove to be one of the most pivotal moments in world history.  The invasion would turn the tide of World War II and lead to the ultimate demise of Nazi Germany.

There was one secret weapon that General Eisenhower had that day.  It was the willingness of the American solider to sacrifice everything for all.  The willingness to die for a cause greater than oneself was stronger that day than any weapon the German’s possessed.

Would you sacrifice everything for others?  I am grateful for the more than 1.2 million Americans that answered that question with “yes,” so that I can experience EVERY freedom that I have today.