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Christian Living

bootsontheground 05/30/11

Thankful, and thoughtful too

Memorial day is a day to remember - and to honor - those who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom. So few people know what honor means anymore that it bears defining: it means we value what they have done for us.

It means we should take a moment and look inward, thinking about how costly our liberty is and asking if we are making full use of that liberty in a way that shows what a rare, precious gift it really is.

If your parents gave up vacations and evenings out, worked extra hours or even a second job in order to send you to college, it would be incredibly disrespectful if you spent your college years skipping classes to go out partying. In the same way, how we use our freedom indicates the value we ascribe to it.

If, like most Americans, you choose to waste your life as a spectator, a mere consumer, you show by your actions a disdain for the high price paid for your liberty. After all, it doesn't take much freedom to sit and watch television. Many prison inmates do that.

So ask yourself a difficult question this Memorial day: How can I make the most of the liberty I've been given? Chances are you could do more with it by following the example set by Jesus himself, who spent his time on earth improving and redeeming everything around him.

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