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Celebrating Memorial Day should not necessarily be a festive occasion, since it is a memorial for those who died in the process of protecting and preserving the freedom that we enjoy in this country. Yet many Americans will hardly have a second thought about why we have this long weekend in the first place.

The unfortunate truth is that decades of prosperity and ease in our country have diminished both the meaning of the day and the responsibility that comes with being the beneficiaries of what it represents.

The thought that should be at the forefront of our thinking on this day is this: freedom is bought with the ultimate price.  Not only is this truth valuable for Americans to remember, but we must also remember the importance of this truth as Christians.  Romans 5:10 reminds us,

“…while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”

Jesus died so that we might be freed from sin and reconciled to God.  He paid the ultimate price so that we could be released from the bonds of sin and find true liberty in Him.

That is why the Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 5:13 to “use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” In other words, the freedom that we enjoy, as Americans and Christians, should be used not just to benefit ourselves, but to honor and benefit others.

Let us not forget the ultimate price that has been paid to secure our liberty, so that we do not forget the value and the purpose of that liberty.