Psalm 78:5-6  He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, ⁶ so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

One of the realities of human nature is the tendency over time to forget important things.  I still shake my head in amazement how the children of Israel in a short time after the death of Joshua and his generation they forgot everything.  In Judges 2:10 we read,

After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.

Think of that!  How could they forget the miracles and the wonder of their deliverance from Egypt; the parting of the Red Sea?  How could Joshua’s generation not communicate faithfully what God had done?  I don’t know the answer, but it’s clear what happened – the subsequent generations didn’t remember God nor did they know what He had done.  Unfortunately the same tendency can afflict us.

Today is the last Monday in May and is the day when the United States celebrates Memorial Day.  The holiday was originally called Decoration Day due to the practice of decorating graves of soldiers.  It began following the Civil War.  It is a day of remembrance in honor of those who have died serving America during war.

May we take the time today to honor and remember those who died fighting for our freedom.  May we explain to our children the importance of honoring and remembering them.  They were and are God’s gift to us for we would not have the blessing of our country without them.  We mustn’t allow this to simply be a three day weekend.

We rejoice with those in the military who fought in wars and made it home alive.  But we especially remember and honor today those who didn’t.  We thank God for all of them.  We mustn’t forget!