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Raise the Flag

By May 26, 2014August 30th, 2022Devotional

It’s Memorial Day 2014 and this day signals the unofficial beginning of the summer season. The graduations are over, everybody is getting ready to fire up the barbecues and spring plants are, for the most part, in the ground. It’s a day of celebration and excitement. In addition to everything else, it’s the day of the Indy 500 – my favorite sporting event of the year. Andrew was over listening to the race with us – that has been a tradition for as long as he has been alive. In fact, we don’t even have to discuss plans; we just know that we will be spending the day together celebrating the traditions and history that we have had for years.

Another thing was kind of neat as well – we attended church last evening, as we do on Saturday nights, and race car driver Ed Carpenter, adopted son of Tony George, was there worshipping as well. How good it is to see world renowned personalities taking time from their busy schedules, on the eve of the biggest racing day of the year, for the pole sitter of the Indy 500 no less, and realize that God plays such an important part in his life that he felt the need to praise God and worship with the rest of us.

And this is our first year in the new house, so there are new things that will be happening as well. In the midst of all the thoughts about the parties and the beautiful weather, it occurred to me that we have a flag pole now and with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Memorial Day, it just seemed right that we should raise the flag. That’s something I really haven’t done before. Sure, we have hung flags on balconies or from the porch, but we have never had a genuine flag pole in the front yard. I have to say; it was kind of neat to hoist the red, white and blue on this day of remembrance.

Yes, that’s right. Today is dedicated to remembering those people who have given the last full measure of sacrifice for this country. And while it’s great to have all the fun and rejoice in the beauty of the day, the primary purpose of today is to remember – remember…

That’s what God wants us to do. That’s also what Moses reminded his people when he wrote the first five books of the Bible – what we call the Pentetuch. He reminded us of the commitments that God made to us in the Old Testament – most notably the covenant with Noah – one of the most important in the entire Scripture. And that verse is our verse for the evening – from Genesis 9:15-16, when God tells Noah, “I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Notice that not only are we to remember, but God remembers his promises to us. And that should give us comfort.

My encouragement this evening is that God remembers his relationship with us and the things that He desires for us out of His love for us. My prayer is that you will remember, in the midst of the beautiful weather and celebrations of this day, that there are many thousands of Americans who have served and paid the ultimate price in order that we could remain free and enjoy the freedoms we have. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…

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