We are celebrating Memorial Day in the US (May) and also the birthdays of several friends. Celebrating our friend’s birthdays is easy to understand, especially if they are good people. What if the person isn’t “good” and is wasting the life they were given? Celebrating Memorial Day is different, because we are honoring the sacrifice made by those who died defending our country. I hesitated when I came up with the title and subject matter for this story. Are we really celebrating the “death” or the life that was taken away?
Should a wasted life be celebrated? If we made that determination, what would be the standard? I wasted part of my life. Should my celebration be less because of my failures? I hope not. We don’t celebrate Judas’s birthday, because of what he did with his life. JESUS said, “woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born” (Mat 26:24 KJV). Judas seemed to have lived a pretty good life, but died in sin. JESUS told the believing thief on the cross, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43 KJV). The thief wasted his life but accepted JESUS and was forgiven. Which life should we celebrate? Maybe we should celebrate the grace that is available to everyone?
Celebrating or honoring the sacrifice made by countless men and women for our country seems a much easier decision. JESUS said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 KJV). Did the person waste their life when they gave it for their country? We should treasure their sacrifice and not squander the life they gave, but was the price too much? If they had accepted JESUS, they didn’t suffer loss. They traded this temporary life for an eternal one. They are victorious over death, Hell and the grave! If they were lost, they made the worst deal of their life. They gave up this temporary life for eternal death. They paid too high a price.
One life we should celebrate is when “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 KJV). JESUS left Heaven to become a living sacrifice to take away our sin. His death, burial and resurrection are reasons for us to celebrate! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV).
Wayne Lance (2017)