"Sacrifice"

I was in the airport preparing to board a plane. A military man came over with his wife and two small children. The airport security had allowed the wife and two children to come to the departing gate to say their good-byes. I watched the wife, clinging to his arm while one child was in front and the other holding his hand. Every once in a while, she would turn away from him and wipe tears from her eyes. He stood looking at his children. It sure looked as if he was tearing up as he gazed at them both. The children were playing and laughing unaware their dad was about to be shipped out. The time came for us to board. The wife hugged, kissed and hugged some more. He picked up both children kissing them, hugging them. It was really great to see. Now I'm not trying to be a sentimentalist here but it was touching. His lips quivered as he tried to speak. Tears were flowing freely. It was time leave. I walked by and stopped by them, then I thanked him for his service which he gently smiled and thanked me for saying something. I turned to the wife and told her a heart-felt thank you. As she fought her tears she thanked me for thinking of her. I walked on to the plane and took my seat.

As I reflected on all this, my mind shifted to Jesus. God in the flesh! Leaving the eternal righteousness and taking on our form, lowly sinful man. "Although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being make in the likeness of men." (Phil. 2:6-7) Jesus died our death. His mission was to free mankind, not a nation but mankind. For every evil man and woman, crimes committed against God and Jesus came to into our world as our sacrifice. OUR SACRIFICE!

I am thankful for those who have sacrificed for the freedoms we have in this country. I thank the Lord for that. But it seems so many forget the ultimate sacrifice. To have the freedoms we have in this nation, people will lose eternally. Jesus came and sacrificed for us no matter what nation we live in so we could live eternally. That's the big picture and I wonder how many tears the Lord sheds, reaching out, watching moment after moment men and women heading off to an eternal destiny they didn't have to go but because they choose to ignore the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus wept!