Independence Day! The Fourth of July! A day for fireworks, backyard cookouts, baseball, and family. A day for celebrating the birth of the United States of America. (NOT ‘Merica – at least never in my mind or out of my mouth.) I remember our bicentennial year and my granddaddy going outside to ring a huge bell 76 times, and I’m sure you have special memories of 4th of July celebrations as well. I’m so thankful for all who were responsible for the conception, development, and birth of this nation. Many lives were given in the creation of this country; many lives have been given to maintain its freedom; many lives continue to be given to protect it and serve it.
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As you celebrate this holiday and the freedoms we enjoy in this land, also celebrate and be thankful for all the men and women who have served and who currently serve in our Armed Forces and as police officers, firefighters, and other types of first responders. As we enjoy the day with family and friends, remember those who don’t get a work-free holiday. They will be doing their jobs – protecting, defending, rescuing, and sacrificing. When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he said in chapter 2, verses 3-4, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” These are the verses that always come to my mind when I think of all the men and women (and their families) who humbly serve us.
Recently, my husband and I watched the movie Only the Brave, which chronicles the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Hotshots are members of elite firefighting teams assigned to wildland fires, usually working in the hottest part of wildfires (hence the name hotshot). I don’t know for sure how accurately actual events were portrayed in the movie, but it is a fact that 19 of these 20 hotshots were killed on June 30, 2013, during the Yarnell Hill Fire near Yarnell, Arizona. At the time, this was the greatest loss of firefighters in the U.S. since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Also recently, June 29, 2019, Luis Alvarez, 53 years old and a former New York City police detective, died after about a three year battle with cancer. He traced this cancer to the three months he spent in the debris of the twin towers after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. He fought for a compensation fund for victims of these attacks almost literally until the day he died. On June 11, 2019, he told a House Judiciary subcommittee, “You all said you would never forget. Well, I’m here to make sure that you don’t.” https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/detective-fought-911-compensation-funding-dies-64036778
I mention the Granite Mountain Hotshots and Luis Alvarez because their stories are fresh on my mind. These are two perfect examples of people living Paul’s words in Philippians 2:3-4. Just two examples. Sacrifices are made daily by our military service members and first responders and other people who just do the right thing at the right time. Let’s not forget them today as we celebrate. Be thankful for the freedoms and security that we would not have without these earthly saviors.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
I cannot end this post without mentioning the verses that follow Philippians 2:3-4. Verses 5-11 say, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Jesus became a servant and paid the ultimate price FOR US! He was the PERFECT sacrifice for an imperfect people – the only savior who could rescue the world.
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So, today I am thankful for all of our earthly saviors, those who knowingly put themselves in harm’s way daily so that the rest of us can safely carry on with our normal routines. And I am especially thankful for my heavenly Savior, who gives me freedom from sin and makes it possible to spend eternity one day in a place free from terrorism, natural disasters, accidents, and evilness. You’ve heard it said that “freedom isn’t free,” but it doesn’t cost a thing to be thankful!
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