What is it With Memorial Day?

  Why do we celebrate Memorial Day and why is it important? Some of us get the day off, but other than that we don’t really celebrate it for what it is, and sometimes don’t even know what it is for.

  Memorial Day, first known as Decoration Day, is a Federal Holiday in the United States for remembering the people who have died serving in the country’s armed forces. It started after the Civil War when many went out to decorate the graves of those who had fallen. It ended up being a part of the healing process for our nation as the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers were decorated and honored for their sacrifice.

  It is immensely fitting that we honor the lives of those who have sacrificed themselves for the freedom we enjoy today. To not honor their lives is to forget the price that true freedom always costs. Freedom is never free. It is paid for, often severely, by those who have gone before us.

  This coming Monday we should not just enjoy a day off, but remember and honor those who have given so much for our way of life.

  Also, as a Christian, days like this help me remember the freedom I have in Christ because of what He paid on the cross of Calvary. The freedom I have in this country was paid for by blood of men who went before me. The freedom I have from sin and Satan was paid for by the blood of Christ on the cross. I have been freed from an eternity in hell because Christ loved me and sacrificed Himself for me.

  Just as I must refuse to forget the men who have sacrificed their lives for my freedom and honor them; I should also never forget my Lord for the eternal freedom I have, and honor His name every day of the year.

Ephesians 2:4-13 – “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”