Summer is unofficially here! Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of the summer season. But picnics and fun shouldn’t be the only thing on our minds. Sometimes the true meaning of the celebration gets lost. We should remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
No, Freedom Isn’t Free, Author Unknown
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in a crowd.
I thought how many men like him.
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?
How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many died in foxholes?
No, freedom isn’t free
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps meant “Amen,”
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of the fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn’t free.
Freedom Isn’t Free is a poem written to recall the memory of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the giving of their lives. Their willingness to give secures to this day our freedom. Freedom to do what we enjoy, racing. Freedom to pursue life and liberty.
On May 17, 2026 on the National Mall in Washington DC and at Churches around the country came together to rededicate our country as One Nation to God. It kicked off the celebration of our nation’s 250 birthday. There was Scripture, Prayer, Testimony and rededication to give thanks to God for His presence in our Nation’s history and to return to One Nation under God. We also asked for His guidance for the next 250 years. This Scripture reminds us;
2 Chronicles 7:14; NLT; Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
I was thinking the other day what would this country look like if we weren’t free? Would things exist as we know it? On any given weekend we can choose what we do. We can choose where we go. If we don’t like going to one place we can choose another. We have the freedom of choice. That is not something to take lightly.
Stop and think of all the choices we can make in our life and then think of some of the other nations in the world who don’t have the same option. The difference is freedom. The founders of our country decided to build on the foundation of God and freedom of choice. We have fought for 250 years to maintain that, not only for us but also for other nations and peoples of the world.
God also gives us the freedom to choose. He makes available for us a life of abundance and freedom. We can choose if we are going to accept that life. Jesus said…
John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Paul adds in Galatians…
Galatians 5:1, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Jesus came and gave His life as a sacrifice so that we could know the abundant and free life that God has offered us. Not unlike those who have fought for our country’s freedom so that we can enjoy an abundant and free life in our Nation. For us to experience freedom it cost someone something.
For us to have freedom many men and women paid the price with their very own lives. They made the ultimate sacrifice for the good of others. They gave their lives. Likewise, Jesus gave His life so that we might have life.
John 3:16-17, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Let me ask a question, do you enjoy your freedom as an American? If you do, take the time to acknowledge those who have made it possible.
Let me ask another, do you want to experience an abundant and free life that only comes from knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior? He gave His life to give you that opportunity, accept it and free yourself from the penalty of sin.
Freedom isn’t free. It cost someone, something. Be thankful there are those who are willing to pay the price for our freedom. Thank them! Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Don