A Time To Remember

By F. D. Adkins

Freedom… the freedom to worship our Heavenly Father… the freedom to pray and serve our God… the freedom to hold a real Bible in our hands and read the Word of God.

This week, I want to remember all those who sacrificed and gave their lives for these freedoms that I think, as a country, we often take for granted, for without these selfless soldiers, we would not have the privilege of enjoying these freedoms.

I doubt that anyone likes the idea of war. I certainly do not. But, according to God’s Word, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV). And this same chapter even details, “…a time of war, and a time of peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:8 KJV). We know that we serve a merciful God that loves us so much that He sent His Son to take the punishment for our sins. And remember the city of Ninevah. God sent Jonah to warn them because He did not want to destroy them. That being said, some might question why God would condone war, but I want to take a moment to look at an example where God calls for war.

In Deuteronomy 20:18-19 (KJV), God orders the Israelites “…to utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee: That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.”

Why would God command the Israelites to destroy these people? Well, from these verses, we know that they are worshipping other Gods, and He does not want this behavior to spread to the Israelites. But, to understand the depth and darkness of their evil, we can flip back to chapter twelve which describes their practices.  In Deuteronomy 12:31 (KJV), we learn these people are actually sacrificing their children to their false gods. “…for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.”

So, after this last verse, I will refer back to Ecclesiastes 3:8 which declares that there is… “a time of war, and a time of peace.”

And friends, as followers of Christ, we are engaged in battle daily.

I am honored to have family members who have selflessly served our country: my husband (a veteran of Desert Storm), my grandfather (a veteran of WWII), my father-in-law (a veteran of the Korean War), and my husband’s grandfather (also a veteran of WWII).

Today, as we walk about freely, as we pray openly to our Heavenly Father, let us honor and remember all those who lost their lives to give us these freedoms.