Today November 11th, is Veteran's Day, which is a time to pay tribute to all those who have served this nation in its' Armed Forces whether in peacetime or at war. We all owe a debt of gratitude to all service personnel for the sacrifices they made to help keep us free. Many today are serving in dangerous overseas locations. Even here stateside there is danger as we have seen in the past couple years with terrorism attacks on secure military installations.
What does it mean to sacrifice and what exactly is honor? Scripture in John 15:13 says that "Greater love hath no man than a man lay down his life for his friends." In 1 John 3:16 it says "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." This is sacrificial love. The greatest love ever was when Jesus died for us on the cross and took the blame for all of our sins past, present, and future.
Now to the subject of honor. We pay tribute and show honor today to those who serve us now and have served in the past. The definition of honor is personal integrity: strong moral character or strength, and adherence to ethical principles,respect: great respect and admiration and finally dignity: personal dignity that sometimes leads to recognition and glory. There is a movie based on a true story that was recently shown on TV about a Navy diver entitled of 'Men of Honor'. Duty, honor, and country is what is important to the military service member. If they do something dishonorable they can get put in military jail or discharged with a dishonorable or general discharge. Most service members end their tour of service with an honorable discharge.
Who do you show honor to? First it should be the Lord Jesus Christ as he is above all things. Next we show honor to our spouse if we are blessed to be married. The Bible speaks in Exodus Chapter 20 about honoring your father and your mother. At the state park near here at the entrance there is a box when an attendant is not on duty which says 'Honor Box' where a motorist, upon entrance to the park, if they are 'honorable' will put their park entrance fee in there. So you see what honor is. We show honor to the Lord by giving the first fruits of our labors in tithing. (Proverbs 3:9).
Today stop a moment and take the time to pray for the service men and women currently in harms' way and those stateside and those who served at any time. Learn what honor and sacrifice are and put it to practice in your own daily life. When you are out enjoying your 3 day weekend think of those who made it all possible.
PRAYER: Father we do humbly thank you for those men and women who signed up to serve this country to protect our freedoms. May you put your angels around them Lord. Show us what it means to honor and respect others as we honor and show respect to our military who serve and give their lives so that we might live. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Click on link and listen to a song that will make you be very grateful for the United States and its' military.
