Last week many of us took part in Remembrance Day services. I decided that being a patriotic Canadian, I would attend the service in Acme. When I arrived, I was met by a crowd of people who were already there for the same reason I was.
I took my seat and found myself with some time to review the bulletin for the service that had been left on my seat.
I reviewed the hymns that were listed, as well as the well known poem, In Flanders Fields. In fact, I even took the time as I waited to memorize once again the poem that I had learned as a kid in elementary school.
By the time I had the poem committed to memory again, the service began with the pipes. There is something about the pipes being played, along with the trumpet playing The Last Post that makes a person proud of their country. As I listened to what was being said and sung in this service, I remembered once again the more personal connection I have with those who fought during the conflicts over the past one hundred years.
I thought of my grandfather who as a German soldier fought in the trenches of the First World War. I also thought of my uncle Herbert who I never met. He served in The Second World War with the German army in the artillery. He later was assigned to the Luftwaffe, only to be shot down. Then finally, there was my own father who served in the Canadian army on a base in Camrose. Whichever side a soldier is on there were many who gave their lives. But as Canadians, we particularly honour those who gave their life for our freedom and we take the time to remember their sacrifice.
As I sat in that Remembrance Day Service, I thought of someone who gave his life for the cause of freedom, but he is someone many people forget. Jesus Christ, sacrificed his life for every person’s freedom from sin. Whether it was the nails that held Jesus to a cross, His sacrifice was for you.
Why did Jesus die for us? So that we could experience freedom on the inside. Freedom from the sins we commit...freedom from the guilt we carry... freedom from the regret that burdens and the shame that haunts us. All of us carry these kinds of burdens and whether we admit it out loud or not, we all want to experience the same thing... freedom from these things that weigh us down. Freedom from the things that rob us of the life God intends for us to know.
Maybe you wonder, “Can God ever forgive a person like me?” The answer is yes. Your mistakes are not too big for God’s grace and this grace will never run out. The cross is the compost pile for our guilt.
Would you like to leave yours there? Picture if you will a blank cheque made out for the amount of “sufficient grace.” Jesus died for our sins so that he could write our name in the “Pay to the order” line. When Jesus gave his life for our freedom he used a banking term to proclaim what he had done for us. “It is finished... Paid in full.” He did that for you and for me and that is why we take the time to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
And so, most certainly appreciate the freedom won for you by soldiers in days gone by, but don’t forget to also appreciate the freedom Jesus paid for you to have. It’s priceless.
This column is submitted by Tri-Community Baptist Church in Beiseker.
