"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13
But there is an even greater sacrifice than that...
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
...and it calls for a greater memorial - not made of stone or marble, and not confined to a certain place, a certain event, or a certain time.
But let me back up a little bit. As Memorial Day approached this year, I was not thinking about the traditional meaning of the holiday, or any variation thereof. I was just struggling, and had been for several weeks - a bit overwhelmed by...everything. Parkinson's Disease (PD) is certainly taking its toll: the symptoms of the disease and the side effects of the medicines are getting more difficult, and the depression that has "come along for the ride" has taken a turn for the worse. Because of that, the DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) surgery that I had finally made the decision to go for, hoping for a significant improvement, cannot take place - not until the depression is under control.
So, Sunday morning, as I reached for my Bible, my heart was heavy, and I felt quite lost. I was not "inspired" to read anything in particular - all I could do was revert to my "default" and do my daily reading: whatever Psalm was next, and pick up where I left off on my read-through-the-Bible schedule. I said a quick prayer, asking God to please speak to me through His word, and ease the ache in my heart - but, honestly, I didn't hold out much hope of that happening.
I read Psalm 114 - pretty short, and, at that time anyway, no help at all. When I saw that I had left off the Bible reading in Hosea (chapters 1-7), well, I didn't see how anything in that obscure little book, that I knew hardly anything about, would do any good. But I kept praying, and reading. When I got to chapter 6, the first three verses were the beginning of the answers to my prayers:
"Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day
That we may live before Him.
So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth."
That was exactly what my thirsty heart needed to hear. As I let those beautiful words soak in, they reminded me of Michael W. Smith's song "Healing Rain", so I looked up the lyrics to that song, and this line became my prayer -"Come soak this dry heart with healing rain."
Then, I remembered something similar in Isaiah - found it in chapter 55:6-13:
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth,
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
For you will go out with joy,
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up;
And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up;
And it (the transformation of the desert) will be a memorial to the Lord,
For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off."
That reminded me of something in Psalm 84, verses 5-7:
How blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee;
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring,
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength,
Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
And also this:
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37-38)
From all of these wonderful passages, I understood this -
- Yes, God wounds and breaks, but He also heals. It is all under His control, He is sovereign, and we can trust Him, even when we don't understand - because His ways and His thoughts are so much higher than our own.
- We need to seek Him, to press on to know Him more.
- He is faithful, His presence is as sure as the dawn, He will always be with us, and He will send the healing rain of His word - to refresh and renew and rejuvenate our dry and weary hearts.
- And His word is sure - it will produce a harvest, it will transform the desert of our hearts into something green and verdant and fruitful.
- When we come to Him, rivers of living water will flow through us and from us, and will transform the dry land around us to springs of water.
- And when all of this happens, we become a memorial to the Lord.
- And all of this can happen...all because of Calvary.
The sacrifice of God the Son on the cross of Calvary, the sacrifice that paid the price for the sins of all of mankind, the sacrifice that bought our freedom - freedom from the penalty of sin, freedom from the power of sin, and one day freedom from the presence of sin - must never be forgotten.
And there are many "memorials" to what He has done - crosses displayed in sanctuaries, in prayer gardens, and hanging around our necks; churches from the simplest building to the grandest cathedral with their steeples reaching for the sky; and the celebration of the Lord's Supper itself - they are all memorials, designed to preserve the memory of Jesus, and His sacrifice that paid for our eternal life.
But they fall short, they are not enough - because the greatest memorial of the amazing grace of God as seen on the cross - is a life transformed. The transforming power of the cross can turn my heart from a dry, barren desert into fertile, fruitful, well-watered soil. And the abundant life that results is a memorial to the Lord, not just once a year, not just once a month, not just once a week - no, may He soak my heart with healing rain so that everyday of my life...is Memorial Day.
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