09 Jun Respect the Gift
This past week saw the 80th anniversary of “D-Day.” On June 6, 1944, Allied troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Canada landed on five stretches of the German-occupied French coastline. CNN noted that this may be the last milestone anniversary of the invasion to include veterans who took part in D-Day. That got me thinking about those who gave their lives on the beaches of Normandy, France on that day. Some were as young as 18, or even younger. They gave up every tomorrow to pay for 80 years of freedom from fascism. Do we respect that gift?
Do we use that gift of freedom in a way that honors those who paid for it with their lives? I was born 17 years after D-Day. Have I lived my life in a way that honors their sacrifice? And that got me to thinking. I could ask myself the same thing about Jesus.
Those who sacrificed their lives at Normandy purchased horizontal freedom with their blood. We live in earthly freedom and not tyranny. When I live frivolously and not productively, I am a “freedom freeloader.” I have a responsibility to respect that gift and use it for the benefit of others. As important as that is, it’s even more important, vital, in fact, that I do the same thing with the gift Jesus purchased with His blood. Put another way, am I a “salvation freeloader?”
Do I say that I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and then live in a way that nobody would notice if I didn’t tell them? This isn’t about being saved by following all the rules. This about surrendering your whole self to Jesus the way He surrendered His whole self for you:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Romans 6:5-7 (NIV)
The Apostle Paul is making it clear. In Christ we are a new creation. If this has truly happened for us, we will effortlessly live in a way that honors Jesus’ sacrifice. And let us exercise our earthly freedom in a way that honors those who paid the ultimate price for it.
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 (NIV)
Pastor Jerry Bader
Misti Rose Rosa
Posted at 23:11h, 11 JuneAmen.