Visit Arlington National Cemetery, and prepare to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of white crosses that cover the hills. They represent the final resting places of nearly a third of a million soldiers.
Yet these valiant warriors live on, for they are in the heart and spirit of the 75 million children and adults enrolled in schools throughout the United States. They are in the churches that worship freely without government restraint. They are in the city parks and national monuments we have at our disposal.
They remain alive in the freedoms they have ensured for our children and our children’s children.
2 Timothy 4:7 speaks to the Christian veteran, both those still with us and those that have gone on. Paul says:
“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
What is his reward? Verse 8 tells us he will receive a crown of righteousness, one given to him by the very hand of the Lord on that final day.
Paul goes on, and he encourages us that everyone who believes in the Lord will also receive a crown for their reward.
As Christians, we may not all fight in our country’s military campaigns, but we are all warriors in God’s battle plans. Just as our country’s soldiers live on even as their bodies are laid to rest, so our spirits will one day be in the presence of the Lord. We will worship at his side forevermore, wearing a crown of righteousness as our reward.
For those who are veterans of the United States Military, we salute you. For those who fight in the Lord’s army, God himself will one day place a crown upon your head.
Remember, old soldiers never die. The freedoms they’ve earned for their fellow man breathe life back into them every single day.
Our life becomes our legacy, and we must make sure it is one we can be proud of. It will continue to live and breathe long past when we are gone.
Copyright © 2013 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FD.FGO.I.11.13a.vp