By Jeff SutherlandThe allies and the Germans signed an armistice (truce) agreement on November 11, 1918. Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 in the US to honor all US veterans who fought in all wars.
There have been many wars since then and in total since the beginning of World War I there have been 433,128 American soldiers killed. Honoring those who fought and died for our country and our freedoms is a great idea but not the best.
Since the bombing of Pearl Harbor Our US military has been considered the world’s strongest and best equipped. There may have been some points where this may not have been completely true but most of us believe it, despite how it may be portrayed at times in our media.
Honor should be given to those who fought, were injured and especially those who died fighting for us, for our freedoms, for our ideals, for our sovereignty as a country. Yet there are those who would deny agreement on our freedoms and ideals.
Directly after 9/11 there was a massive growth of love of our country. Flags were flying proudly everywhere. Churches were full, people were looking for something to hold onto yet in months the churches emptied out and the flags taken down.
Now there are those who stomp on our flags and our freedoms while rejecting the idea that there should be honor at all. In fact, many have bought into the idea that our founding fathers lied about everything and that honor, our constitution and our military mean nothing good.
Many times, in the Bible the people of Israel fought foes much larger, stronger, and better equipped than they were and won. They also went into battle against much smaller and weaker foes and lost.
What was the difference then between winning and losing? The great military? No. The bigger army? No. The greater chariots, shields and swords? No.
Reading Judges 6-8 we find the opposite to be true. God told Gideon, you have too many men in his army. He started with 32,000 but God whittled his number down to 300. Why? So, no one would think the victory was because of their strength and might. When they won, they knew God won the battle for them.
Is it a terrible thing to have a big strong army? Is it a dreadful thing to own a gun to protect yourself, your family, or your neighbors? No, not at all. What is wrong is when we start to think that gun, that bomb, that new stealth aircraft or that large army of well-trained marines are what wins the battle.
We all face battles almost everyday but when we begin to have faith in ourselves or faith in anything other than the Lord of Lords, our battle is lost. Honor our veterans. Thank everyone of them for their service. Show them that you care for all they have done but don’t put them above the One who was there fighting in the trenches with them, the One true God.
