Remembrance Day Laying Poppies To Honour Those Who Died
Tuesday November 10, 2015
Tomorrow, November 11 is Remembrance Day here in Canada where we offer our respect through ceremonies, parades, moments of prayer and silence, and speeches. The first Remembrance Day was observed in Canada on November 11, 1931. Right across the country tomorrow, in our towns and villages, millions will gather in grateful memory of those who died in order that the people of this country could live in freedom.
In the days leading up to Remembrance Day, many of us wear a poppy. After the civic ceremonies, people often take their poppy off and lay it on the cenotaph in their community. This is done to personally honour the soldiers who died. Poppies were first associated with those who died in war more than two centuries ago. After John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Field" was published in 1915 the poppy became the symbol chosen to honour the memory of the millions who died on the battlefield.
As I lay my poppy on a war memorial to honour and remember the veterans who showed love for family and country, I am reminded that Jesus Christ laid down His life to honour His father and pour out His love for you and me. No one took Jesus life but He offered it so you and I could know forgiveness and freedom from sin and brokenness.
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. (John 10:17-18 NIV)
In this statement Jesus was expressing a depth of trust in His Father and love for each of us that we can't even begin to imagine. God invites you and me to enter into that love and experience a relationship with Him that is complete and forever. God wants us to know Him in a very personal way. He wants us to know the value He places on each individual. His great love for us caused Him to send Jesus into the world to pay the price for our sin.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV)
As we get ready to honour veterans with our presence at tomorrow’s ceremonies and lay our poppies on memorials, why not take the time to consider how we should honour the God whose love bought us back from certain death and who offers us eternal life?
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