My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:12-13 NIV
I saw a post on FB claiming this was the most expensive day on the calendar. I thought of the travel, the food spent and the entertainment many would be sharing this memorial day weekend. The post went on to share that it cost soldiers their lives for our freedoms on this holiday. Sadly, sacrifice of others is under appreciated except by those intimately affected. Tenderness toward those who have lost loved ones is always appropriate.
Jesus tied the sacrifice of a life for others as an expression of love. The highest or greatest way to show your love for someone is to lay down your life for them. Our message to the world is Jesus showed His love by dying on the cross in our place. We, who deserved death, escape it. We, who were enslaved to sin, are given freedom. We, who were lost and without hope, are rescued and adopted into the family of God. We, who were scarred and messed up from living life by our own understanding, are healed and given a hope and a future.
I included verse 12 because it is actually connected to the “no greater love” verse. Jesus said, love one another as I have loved you. Verse 13 gives the quantifiers of what that kind of love should look like. We lay down our lives for others. Parents understand this expression of love the moment a new baby arrives in the home. Schedules, sleep, eating all have to be adjusted to bring healthy love to your child.
Perhaps you may want to ask the Lord how you can express this great love to those who are closest to your circle of influence?
For the followers of Jesus, this Memorial day is a time of gratitude and thanksgiving for His sacrifice of His life on our behalf and for those who have also fallen in battle.
More than a poetic pause, may this be a day of remembrance for those who shared the greatest of love.
Blessings, Love y’all