“We, in America, are today enjoying the greatest freedom the world has ever known—
a freedom that staggers all who will consider it—
for we are free in these days to ignore the very things that others died to provide.
–Peter Marshal, The American Dream
I have been, recently, compelled to think about the fact that we take so much for granted that other men died for.
In the above quote, Peter Marshal, speaks about the basic freedoms that we take for granted—including the freedom to not care. How many times to we not think about the price of freedom. Do we think of it in this health care reform debate? Do we think of it during this recession? Do we think of it when we beg for handout from the government?
We are too often like the Israelites—who whined and complained about every little thing after they were given freedom.
People died so that we may be free. Bottom line. What does it mean to you? How should we live differently?
Another area of thinking about how men died for something which is now taken for granted is the Baptist faith and message. Now, I’m not talking about the exact document that describes the beliefs of the Southern Baptist Convention—I am talking about the historic beliefs about Baptism, Priesthood of the Believer, and the foundational belief in the Bible as the Word of God. We take these for granted.
We take crosses off our churches, so as to not offend. We alter our worship, so that it will be more palatable to the non-Christian. We soften our stance so that we will not lose our jobs. We should not be offensive in our delivery, mind you, but we should not be moved.
Men and Women died for the gospel and for their convictions.. Do we?
We should not take the blood of men for granted. The values that they died for give us the freedom and the foundation to advance our cause. We should be ready, as well, to defend what we believe—even to death.
