Who Is Worthy?

He has called you worthy to serve Him, to share Him, to show forth the manifold witness of His grace and love. He has called you worthy. Phillippians 1:6 (embellished)

As Memorial Day approaches, it is time to give thanks to those who have sacificed everything for the freedom we Americans experience every single day. The men and women who have fought in battles to preserve the honor, integrity, and freedom of this country are worthy to be honored and celebrated on this day!

The division in America at this time in history causes many of us to flash back to other times when we saw riots, protests, anger, and other problems which resulted in dangerous and turbulent times in our country. Most of my generation were raised on stories of patriotism both in our families and among friends. Randy’s Dad served during WWII, our uncles served as pilots in that war, and our high school and college friends fought and died in the Viet Nam war.

Recently, I have been reminded of the courage and sacrifice made by men and women during the wars in which our country fought, and I would recommend these to you. Masters of the Air by John Orioff and Donald Miller is the true story of an elite group of warriors who were a miscrocosm of America. These men from England and America formed a bombing campaign against Nazi Germany in the longest military campaign of WWII. Until Allied Forces crossed into Germany in the final months of the war, this was the only battle fought inside the German homeland.

The book and series tells the story of the 100th Bomber Group aka “The Bloody Hundredth”. It tells the story of life in wartime England and the German prison camps where thousands of these airmen spent part of the war. A sobering fact is that in 1943, an American bomber crewman stood only a one in five chance of surviving his tour of duty which consisted of 25 missions. The bravery of this “band of brothers” is unimaginable when one thinks that everytime they left on a mission, they knew that four of them would not come back. These men are worthy of our remembrance and heartfelt thanks.

The book, The Women by Kristin Hannah, tells the story of all the brave women who also served in combat during the Viet Nam war. This book tells the story of all the forgotten nurses who served in war zones, hospitals, and field hospitals where they treated the injured soldiers who arrived each day. The strength of these women was virtually forgotten when the war ended, but even though they were not in combat, they saw and dealt with the atrocities of war. They dealt with PTSD, flashbacks, and the loss of many of their friends. These women are worthy of our remembrance and thanks.

Statistics tell us that around 37,000,000 men and women have served our country since its existence. Of this number, over 640,000 gave their lives in this service for you and for me. Mostly recently, with our war in Iraq, many more soldiers have given their lives and unfortunately, added to this number. As we deal with unrest in the Middle East, our military once again is stepping up to help those who have lost their homes and their loved ones. These servants risk their lives every day, and they are worthy of our remembrance and heartfelt thanks.

This Memorial Day, it would be a great way to honor all our military men and women if each of us would think of one person who sacrificed their life for us or is now actively serving our country and write their name or names on a piece of paper. Now, say a prayer either in thanksgiving for them or for their safety, and pray for their family.

John Keegan says, Soldiers, when committed to a task, can’t compromise. It’s unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until its done.

Take a moment this Memorial Day to thank God for these worthy servants. The blood of many fine soldiers paid the price for the freedom we have today. God Bless America!