Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman So we spent the last few days at Ft. Benning, Georgia watching our oldest son graduate from Basic Training. There were 2 days of ceremonies honoring all the men who had spent the last 15 weeks training to become the best soldiers they can be. We were very proud, of course. It always seemed for most of Jeremy's life that we would one day be watching this happen. He has always loved the military and has always wanted this to be part of his life.
During the graduation ceremony they read the oath that each soldier takes when signing up for the job of defending our country. One oath is that they will defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies both foreign and domestic. Since I believe that our country was founded by men who believed in God and wanted to protect us from those who might want to take our freedom away, I was very proud to know my son took an oath to protect that.
As we were driving home yesterday, it hit me how big a deal that is. Protecting and Guarding our Freedom is a big job and these men went to Hell and back to learn how to do it. Some of the stories Jeremy told us over the few days about what they went through was pretty amazing. He also told us that there were about 62 men that started in his platoon and that day at graduation only 37 men were left standing. Needless to say, it is not for the faint of heart!
I also thought about what that meant for us as we move forward in bringing freedom to people who have never really experienced it before. I believe that real freedom comes from knowing just how much we are loved by God and how much he wants to know us and how much He wants us to know Him. There are many things out there that fight for our attention so that we don't experience that kind of freedom. I also know that when you experience that kind of Freedom you want everyone you know to know it and experience it too.
Just like those men who stood there that day and took that oath to protect our Freedom, simply because they value what they know they have because of what others before them have done. We are called to bring a message of freedom, the message of God's love for us and what he did for us by sending his Son to cover our sin, to those who don't know. How are we doing that? Are we arming ourselves the way we need to so that the real message of Freedom can be found. Will you fight for it so that others may know?
2 days ago, Jeremy became an Infantryman and had a blue cord pinned on his coat to signify to others what he is prepared to do if he is called upon to defend the Constitution. The motto of an infantryman is "Follow Me." Today I am challenged by these words. How about you? What do we have to do to be prepared enough to have that kind of confidence to say to someone,"FOLLOW ME?"
The scripture your referring to is the one written in 1 Cor. 11:1, which says,
ReplyDelete1 BE YE FOLLOWERS OF ME, EVEN AS I ALSO AM OF CHRIST.
The last part of that statement being the most important. My having considered what Paul meant there is we are to follow him, true. But only as long as he was following Christ. And if we see another that is not doing so, we need to stop doing what that one is doing then. Which is the reason Paul did end up saying what he did say at the end.
That being the reason the last part of that verse being more important than the first part, of course.