It was the 11th day of the 11th month in the 11th hour when WWI came to an end in 1918. Hostilities ceased while the warring sides went to the table to figure out what the aftermath of “The Great War” would look like. The official end of the war came 229 days later with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
President Woodrow Wilson declared the first Armistice Day to be November 11, 1919. It was celebrated with parades, speeches, and a cease of all activities at 11 a.m. In 1926, Congress passed a resolution making Armistice Day official. Twelve years later in 1938, it became a Federal Holiday. The 1954 Congress amended the wording passed by the 1938 Congress, changing the day from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
Veterans. Not Veteran’s. The apostrophe means possession and the veterans do not “own” the day. Instead, it is rightfully Veterans Day – plural – a day to pay tribute to “all American veterans—living or dead—but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.”1
According to Pew Research, there are about 18 million veterans in the United States, comprising 6% of the population. While this sounds like a lot, it actually reflects a decline from previous years. This decline is also felt in our Congress and Senate with fewer than ever being veterans.2
The theme of this year’s Veterans Day is “A Legacy of Loyalty and Service.” To all of our veterans, we thank you for that loyalty and service demonstrated to our country and each of the citizens. You can never be thanked enough!
As Christians, our salvation and entrance into the family of God automatically placed us in military service. We are in God’s army and there are many military metaphors used throughout the Bible to highlight that comparison. Of all soldiers, we should be known for a legacy of loyalty and service.
Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. (4) No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” Hardness? I thought that once I became a Christian, everything was going to be smooth sailing until the day the Lord called me home!
Whoever told you that lied through their teeth! And they obviously don’t know their Bibles.
It doesn’t take much reading to see that the Bible characters endured a lot of struggles. In fact, the moment that they placed their faith in the Lord, the troubles escalated. Rather than folding, they stayed true to the Lord. It wasn’t a matter of them holding on, white-knuckling their grip on God. God was holding them. And they demonstrated a legacy of loyalty regardless of what happened. Job said it best in Job 13:15, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…”
As for a legacy of service, Christians have also demonstrated this through the centuries. To the church of Thyatira, the Lord said in Revelation 2:19, “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.”
To the elder in Ephesus, Paul said in Acts 20:18-19, “And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, (19) Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.” Can we say that about ourselves?
Again, for those who are U.S. veterans, we thank you for your loyalty and service. It’s really not a matter of service in wartime or peace. It’s a matter that you served. You gave of yourself to our nation and served loyally and honorably.
For Christians, Jesus summed up what a legacy of loyalty and service looks like. He lived it and we would do well to remember His words spoken to Satan during the Lord’s
temptation in the wilderness. “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matthew 4:10)
1https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-veterans-day
2https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/08/the-changing-face-of-americas-veteran-population/
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