Deuteronomy 8 - Memorial Day - A Day of Remembrance

"Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest--when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ...... that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end-- then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' I trust that you read the above verses from Deuteronomy very carefully! Moses was giving the nation of Israel final instructions just before they entered the Promise Land with Joshua. You can’t help but notice the warning he gave very clearly: "Beware that you do not forget…”. As you read and think about this passage you have to conclude that it can be a very dangerous thing to forget certain things!   “America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!” A world renown philosopher in the early 1800’s made this statement. America was good because it was built on the foundation of God’s Word and God blessed America. It was founded on the principles of respect and reverence for God, respect for people, respect for life, individual responsibility and personal disciplines. People understood that they were accountable to one another and believed that one day they would have to stand before a Holy God and give a personal account of their lives.   When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they release evil and death upon the whole human race. Romans 12:21 gives us the formula for dealing with evil: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” God has used America and our military to confront evil in the world over these past several hundred years.   Think about it. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, the only perfect and good Person who ever lived to deal with the very essence of evil and sin! On the cross Jesus paid the price for sin with His death and overcame death, sin, the grave and hell by His resurrection! Because of God’s great goodness we can now enjoy freedom from the power of evil through the blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection!   Today, as we remember the 656,000 plus Americans that died in battle from the Revolutionary War through the Post 911 Gulf Wars, we are thankful and grateful that they made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives so we could enjoy the freedoms we have in this great country! Freedom is not free! It is very costly!   Today, each of us as individuals can deal with the evil around us by receiving God’s goodness and salvation through Jesus Christ and then we can overcome the evil with His goodness as we let His light shine out of us with good deeds. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”   At 8 am in the morning, I personally have the opportunity to join with some veterans in my military community, Sneads Ferry NC, Mimosa Bay just outside Camp Lejeune, to get on some boats and go out to an island on Alligator Bay located on the Intracoastal Waterway and hold a memorial service. For this past two years I’ve been asked to say a few words and have a prayer as we remember those who died in service for our country. It is a very special time.   I trust you will take the time today, in some way with your family, to remember the price that was paid for our freedom in America!   God bless!