VETERAN'S DAY 2014

Pastor Todd Christopherson
Mid American Stock Car Series
November 11, 2014

As Veterans Day approaches we need to stop and say thank you to each person who has served, is serving and will serve this country. Your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. We know many families who have given much for us to enjoy the freedom we have. We continue to pray daily that those serving will get home safely.

You know how important I think it is to thank the men and women who have served but this year I want to spend a moment thinking of others who have served and are serving. Please stay with me on this.

Whenever I think of those who in the armed services, I also think about the ones who serve here on the home land as police, firefighters, in hospitals, etc. Thank you for your service. I also think of those who serve the LORD. I do not just mean the people in “full time” or “paid” ministerial positions. I mean the Dad who spends time in the Word and in prayer and teaches, pours out, the Bible on his family. I mean the Mom who is training her kiddos. It is the Grandparent who prays and encourages the children of several generations. It is the neighbor who cares for the one across the street and so on. They all serve in important ways.

Think with me on these verses.

Deuteronomy 6:13-18It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you.

Do you see the clear message on who to serve in the above verses? It is the LORD God we are to fear and then to serve. Verse 14 tells us we are not to go after other gods. This is a huge statement. We can so easily please other things before the LORD and really serve them. The next verse is a good warning to us in America. Many around us in this country are not following and serving God. They are following and serving entertainment, self, a religion, money, a job, sports, education, etc… We are to beware not to fall into the world view that doesn’t include God as the foundation and cornerstone.

It is good for us to remember that one of God’s attributes, one of His characteristics, is that He is a jealous God. This is good for us to think about. Why would God be jealous? Since He is loving, it means He has our best interest in mind. He has the right and entitlement to demand our focus and attention. I know if we are distracted by anything else it will lead us away from Him. Stop and really think about that.

Verse 17 states we are to be diligent in keeping His commandments. The word diligent = OT:8104; shamar (shaw-mar’); a primitive root; properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.1 Do you see that we are to protect, to guard God’s Word? How are you doing at knowing the Bible and guarding it while spreading it at the same time?

If we are faithful in our study and living out of the Bible it will help us in doing what is right and good in the sight of the LORD. Verse 18 says this and gives us a promise. Now that promise does not mean that it will good well as in easy or entertained but instead it will go well as God see it going well, that is us being faithful to Him no matter what is going on around us.

So please, if you thank a soldier this weekend, or you say thank you to one who has served in the past, please also thank someone you know who has faithfully served the LORD and impacted your life.

Have a great day racin’ in the SONshine,
Pastor Todd

1(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)