Wouldn’t it be great if there was no Memorial Day? “Huh?” may be your first response. Sounds terribly unpatriotic, doesn’t it? Perhaps even mean. But stay with me for a moment. Why do we have Memorial Day? We take a day to remember the many men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation. They fought in wars and died so that we could continue to live in freedom. But just think for a moment if we did not need to have wars in order to live in freedom? If we did not need to send our young men and women to fight against people who want to take away our freedom? If we could simply live in freedom without having to defend it? If all of that was true, then we would not need to have Memorial Day because there would be no one to remember. Wouldn’t that be great? No Memorial Day because no one died. No families grieve. No cemeteries are marked with flags. We are free and everyone in the whole world is O.K. with that. Heck, they even appreciate their own freedom.

But alas, let’s get back to reality. We do have war. Men and women die in it. Families are deeply saddened because of it. We have to fight to defend freedom. Unfortunately in our world, defending freedom is a given. Memorial Day is a fixture in our year because somebody somewhere thinks democracy is a bad idea. And they feel compelled to do what they can to take it from us. They always have and they always will. Even Jesus was called on to defend freedom with His life.

On this Memorial Day I’ve been reminded of the many people who grieve over the loss of a husband, son, father, or family member due to the war against terrorism. I’ve watched news stories of guys who never made it back home, to the embrace of their wife and children. My prayer today has been for God’s grace and comfort in their lives and for a quick end to the conflict in the Middle East. War is a terrible necessity of our world. I will be thankful for the day when we “ain’t gonna study war no more.” Yes, one day we will not have Memorial Day. But until then, I am thankful for those who have died to defend freedom.