I'm the tank soldier son of a tank soldier. I've been where the bullets are flying though my HQ post thankfully kept me out of combat. The latest war movie about D-day made me flinch as memories came back. The zip of the bullets. Young men's faces wet with fear. The brave cowardice with which they followed their orders. You can't see that movie without considering what the Bible says about debts: "Give everyone what you owe them: if you owe taxes pay up, if you owe respect give respect , if you owe honor , then honor". Are you a part of our take-it-for-granted society? "...For those who fought for it freedom has a flavor the protected will never know." In this article I ask that you pause to remember. There's no greater love than that someone lays down their life for you.
In 1994 I saw the Vietnam Wall for the first time. My fingers touched the name Paton on that wall and I wondered who this soldier was. Have the people of this nation paid the debt of honor to him and his thousands of fallen comrades? To forget the cost of your privileges motivates failure to pay the debt. Walking in a mall I entered an art shop. There was a framed scene. The business man stood leaning against the memorial wall, his tears flowing. On the other side of the marble were the faces of fallen comrades as they reached out to his memory. My eyes were wet too!
Young men are often called to fight old men's wars. The new Korean War monument in Washington DC moved me profoundly. A ghostly sculptured platoon of young men taking a hill. Those soldier boys took up the sword in Liberty's name. At the crest of the hill is a low black marble wall with gold letters that proclaim: Freedom is not free. You owe them…big time!
Another young man fought a battle so fierce that even God had to look away. He took the hill. He changed death into victory. He fought the powers of darkness and purchased spiritual freedom and divine forgiveness for you by the gift of His blood. He did this out of love for you. Spiritual freedom is not free. You owe Him…big time!
The point of the D-day movie was that a young private's life was spared by the sacrifice of others who did their duty. Their deaths created a debt of honor. He spent the rest of his life trying to live worthily. At the end of his life Private Ryan made a pilgrimage to those white crosses on the Normandy coast. The question "did I live up to the sacrifice" still haunted him.
There is a pilgrimage you too must make. Like Ryan there is a cross before which you must kneel. Like Ryan you can never live up to the cost of your freedom , but you too must give the honor you owe. Remember Calvary and surrender your life to the God Who loved you enough to taste sin, death and hell for you.