Lauriault: Honor those who fought for our religious freedom

Religion Columnist

Today is Veteran’s Day. Originally this holiday was called Armistice Day because at 11:11 a.m., on Nov. 11, 1918, a cease-fire went into effect, ending the hostilities of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed about seven months later, officially ending the war.

Armistice Day was originally meant to honor World War I veterans, but by 1954, two more great wars had been fought. So Congress renamed the holiday Veterans Day to honor all American veterans (http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp).

While Veterans Day isn’t celebrated as much as Independence Day in many places, it is well-celebrated in Quay County. Otherwise, nationally, it actually seems that we’re minimizing remembrances of our nation’s history. For example, many holidays have been moved to Monday to save operating costs for businesses and to allow for longer weekends for employees. These have become the focus of the holidays rather than remembering their original purpose.

Back to Veterans Day, the men and women serving for six months or longer who either stand ready to fight, even when there’s no war, or who perform some essential task for those who are directly in harm’s way receive equal recognition as veterans as those who actually fight to protect our freedoms (1 Samuel 30:24-25). Many service people placed in harm’s way are harmed, but with advancing medical technology, more and more are coming home bearing the marks of battle. Along with seeing men and women in uniform, these battle scars are a more frequent and attention-getting reminder than Veteran’s Day of the sacrifices being made by our service people. More often than not, though, the marks of battle are not as readily noticeable, but they’re still there and have a significant impact on the veteran.

So, what does Veterans Day have to do with Christian living?

First, if our service people hadn’t or weren’t defending our Constitution successfully against the less tolerant, we couldn‘t worship God in America as we see fit (actually, America would be much better off if everyone would worship God as HE sees fit – Psalm 33:12-22; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 1:22-23; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Peter 2:1-2).

Second, Christians are a marked people (Ephesians 1:13-14; Acts 19:1-5; 2:38-39; Romans 8:9; 6:3-7; Galatians 5:16-25). While we may not bear the same battle scars, the mark of Christianity should still be readily noticeable by everyone we know (Galatians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 11:23-27; 4:5-11; Matthew 5:14-16; 1 Peter 2:9-12; 1:3-9). Additionally, some are goers and some are senders but the reward is the same without regard to length of service or occupational specialty (Matthew 20:1-16; Romans 10:13-15; Philippians 1:4-6; 4:14-20).

Third, Christians need a frequent reminder that Jesus died to free us from our past, present, and future sins (Romans 5:6-10; 6:10; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:25-31).

Do you realize how important protecting our country and Constitution really is so we can worship God properly? Can others tell you’re a Christian? Do you remember Jesus’s sacrifice for your sins while regularly attending a church that practices the Apostolic gospel?

Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan. Contact him at [email protected]