Pastor Blog: Never Forget...

Last week, I watched one of my favorite movies…Saving Private Ryan. And while I loved the movie, it was very gory and realistic. But that movie impacted me so hard…maybe it was because my generation tends to take for granted the sacrifice that was made in the name of freedom. Near the end of the movie, Tom Hanks whispers to Private Ryan these words, "Earn this...Earn it." After the movie was over, I just sat there…thinking and contemplating. And a story came to my mind, one that I some of you might have heard before…but one that we need to hear again and again. It is a story that is one of the many lessons to remember this Memorial Day.

One summer afternoon, a young boy was swimming at a nearby lake. He usually went there with friends or family but today he was swimming alone. As he was swimming, he got some cramps and was unable to swim any farther. He struggled for his life and was about to go under for the last time, when he felt a man's strong arm lifting him from the water and taking him ashore. The boy never actually saw the man's face and he did not recognize the voice. After making sure the boy was okay, the man left. But as he did, the boy said, "Thank you sir for saving my life." The man stopped, looked back and replied, "You're welcome son. See to it that you are worth saving."

And so it was for Private Ryan in the movie…and the boy in this story and us today. This Memorial Day that is what we need to remember so that Memorial Day is not just another day…it is not just another to lay around the lake or the pool or the beach. For me now, Memorial Day is one of the most precious of all days. It is a day when we all look back in thanks to those who as Abraham Lincoln put so eloquently in his Gettysburg Address, "gave their last full measure of devotion" so that we might live as free men and women.

We have been saved…not by a group of soldiers or by some stranger…we have been saved by Jesus Christ. And I wonder if I…if we…have made our lives worth saving. Have we used the gifts that God has given to us for the building of His Kingdom?? Do we truly love God with all of our hearts, our minds and dour souls? And do we love our neighbor as ourselves?? When we do these things…when we become the children that God would have us to be, then believe me, we have made our lives worth saving.

WOW!! What a movie…but more so…what a God that saves a sinner like me and a sinner like you. This Memorial Day, take a moment to remember those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we might be free. And don't forget to remember the One who made the Supreme Sacrifice so that you and I might experience life...abundant life!!

I hope you you and your family have a blessed and safe Memorial Day Weekend.

Breathe Peace,

Marty

5/24/08 11:57 PM

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Pastor Blog: Never Forget...

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