A couple of years ago, I stopped at a fast-food restaurant to eat breakfast and prepare for a Bible study I was teaching that evening. Sitting at a table across from me were two men, one in his early 90s and the other in his 30s. The elderly gentleman was in a wheelchair, his voice raspy, his gray hair yellowed, his skin weathered and wrinkled. The men were talking about the Veteran’s Day parade they hoped to be able to enjoy later that day. The parade in Birmingham, Alabama is the oldest and largest Veteran’s Day parade in the country.
I had my laptop out and was typing notes about “thankfulness” until the following exchange caught my attention. (I began typing furiously so I could remember the exchange. The Southern gentlemen spoke slowly which helped me get it all down.)
“I wish I could march, or even shuffle, in the parade. Guess those days are long gone.” the elderly man said wistfully.
“You couldn’t pay me enough to walk all that way,” proclaimed the younger man.
“I would give almost everything but my soul to march alongside my fellow veterans,” replied the elderly man.
With a look of confusion on his face, the young man said, “Your soul! What do mean?”
With this question, the elderly man perked up a bit, “Your soul is the sum of your heart and mind. It is that part that Jesus Christ died on the cross and was resurrected to save from eternal death.”
“Pops you are a strange old man, but I love you,” the young man retorted.
At this point tears began streaming down the elderly man’s cheeks, making the younger man extremely uncomfortable, “Come on Pops, quit crying. Let’s enjoy our breakfast and not have another one of our (making the ‘in quotes’ sign with his fingers) ‘discussions.’”
“Mike (not his real name), I don’t want a discussion, I want you to sit still and listen carefully to your great-granddaddy. It is so sad that you do not understand sacrifices.”
“Yes I do!” protested Mike.
Pops continued, “Please listen. You see, if you understood what sacrifice is, you would indeed want the privilege of marching alongside those who had sacrificed and put their lives on hold to serve in the military; to march with those who were not killed during the war.”
“Well, everyone didn’t always go willingly, many were drafted!” mocked Mike.
“Yes, you’re right,” was Pops’ pensive reply. “Yet, drafted or volunteered, their sacrifice was equal and worthy of our gratitude and respect.”
The somber change in his great-granddaddy’s tone caught Mike’s attention, “I’m listening.”
At this point, Pops began speaking adamantly, “If you understood the battles that were fought during the wars, you would understand sacrifice. Military men and women fought to give you and your children freedom. Freedom to own a home and a car, get a good education, come here for breakfast, criticize your government, vote into office those whom you think the future of our nation can be entrusted, and do so many other things. The most important of these freedoms, not that we will have it for long though, is the freedom to sit here in the open and talk with you about my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, to freely worship Him!”
Mike shot one of those dismissive “here he goes again” looks.
Pops lovingly admonished, “Mike, I know you don’t want to believe that there is a God Who is over all things and Who sent His only Son to die on the cross. But whether you believe it or not—HE DID! Because of His death, burial, resurrection and ascension to heaven all those who believe on Him as Savior and Lord will be free from the hold of satan, the bondage of sin, and eternal punishment in hell.”
“Pops, I thought we were talking about Veteran’s Day, not GOD!”
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
(John 15:13 NKJV)
“Can’t talk about Veteran’s Day without talking about sacrifice. Can’t talk about sacrifice without talking about the greatest sacrifice, Jesus. The sacrifice of the veterans is a picture, flawed and incomplete as it is, of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Christ died to take our sin and punishment so we can walk in the freedom of God’s grace. Veterans serve and many give their lives so that Americans can walk in the freedom that is America. BUT, until you, the American people, and the government come to understand that God is in control and that He is to be worshiped, praised, and served, our freedom will be incomplete!”
Sadly, I had to leave for work, but as I passed by their table, I stooped down so I was eyeball to eyeball with Pops and said, “In what branch did you serve?”
Pops proudly replied, “I’m a Marine!”
I was so excited to hear that, and said, “My dad was a Navy corpsman attached to the 3rd Marine Division on Iwo Jima and Guam. Thank you for your service to our country, and more importantly, our God!”
“Semper Fi!” Pops said in a raspy, broken voice. Both of us had tears free-flowing down our cheeks as he began to sing various lyric portions of “America the Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates.
“America! America! God mend thy every flaw, Confirm my soul in self-control.”
“America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine!”
I could barely hear the Marine as he asked me to join him in praying that God would have mercy on our country, because several people around us began standing and applauding. I turned his wheelchair around so he could see what was happening. As he looked around, different ones nodded and said, “Thank you.”
AMEN AND AMEN!!
Please take time today and every day to thank all the veterans and their families with whom you come in contact. And more importantly, our Savior and Lord Jesus Whose blood paid the price for your eternal freedom!
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