On Monday, May 29, 2023, Americans will honor and mourn the military personnel who have died in the performance of their military duties while serving in the United States Armed Forces. This holiday is observed each year on the last Monday of May.

There are three official times throughout a calendar year when we in America honor our military—Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day; however, I believe we should always pay tribute to those men and women who bravely fight to provide and protect our freedom. This list includes past and present military, police officers, fire fighters, doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, and others I haven’t named but serve and protect.

In reflecting on this upcoming holiday, it gave me an opportunity to try to understand the calling of these men and women.  I believe they all received a calling from God to pursue a servant type of career.

These men and women choose to serve our country, just as we believers choose to serve God. When we give our lives to Jesus Christ and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we enlist into the Army of God. In 2 Timothy 2:3-4 we are called a good soldier of Jesus Christ and it goes on to say that we shouldn’t entangle ourselves in the affairs of this life, but we should please Him who enlisted us as a soldier.

In other words, we need to not focus all our attention on what is happening around us but keep our focus and attention on the Lord Jesus Christ.  In 2 Timothy, Paul wanted Timothy to have the commitment of a soldier, discipline of an athlete, and faith and patience of a farmer.

As believers and soldiers in God’s Army, we need to have this same commitment.  Soldiers first go through Boot Camp to prepare for service (physically, mentally, and emotionally) as well as to receive the tools necessary to perform their duties/roles.  During Boot Camp or Basic Training, the new recruits are equipped with the following abilities:

• To believe in a cause more important than themselves.
• To focus on the benefits rather than the cost. Soldiers looks at the future with hope instead of focusing on the present with fear and trepidation.
• To recognize that their hardship is only temporary and subject to change.
• To drop everything when they are called to answer the call.
• To be committed to the cause and know their lives are no longer their own.

As believers in the Lord, we should be equipped with similar abilities:

• To believe in God and what His Word says.
• To focus on the spiritual blessings God has already provided to us at the cross.
• To recognize, if we are in a hardship, that the situation is subject to change. It is only temporary.
• To drop everything if someone has a need as well as be ready to share our testimony and the Gospel.
• To commit to our Lord and know that we have died to self and given our lives to Him.

During orientation, the recruits are fitted with the appropriate uniform for their service (Marines, Navy, Airforce, etc.).  As believers, we need to be fitted with the right uniform for God’s Army.  Ephesians 6 shows us how to put on the whole armor of God.  We receive God’s armor, not our own. King Saul tried to give David his armor to fight Goliath, but it didn’t fit. King Saul was head and shoulders over David and if David tried to fight with King Saul’s armor, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat Goliath.

As we step out in service for God, our mission should be to change the atmosphere where we work, go to school, work out at the gym, or wherever we spend time with believers and non-believers.  Have you prepared yourself as a soldier in God’s Army by spending time in His Word and listening to the commander’s (God’s) voice so you are ready for service and any battle against the enemy?

Thank you to the men and women who have served or are serving. Let us all spend time with God preparing our hearts to be available to serve when God calls.

~Donna Jones