A Weekly Memorial Day

To many people, it’s just another fun holiday. But to people like Carol Resh, 61, whose son, Army Captain Mark Resh, was killed in Iraq, Memorial Day means a whole lot more. Regarding the day’s treatment as just another day off, she said, “It’s not that they’re doing it out of malice. [The war] just hasn’t affected them.”

During World War II, more than 12 percent of the U.S. population served in the armed forces. Today, that number is down to less than one-half of a percent. Most Americans don’t even personally know a soldier, sailor, or airman. Brian Duffy, commander-in-chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, says, “It hurts that, as a society, we don’t truly understand and appreciate what the true meaning of Memorial Day is.”

That’s also true when it comes to Creation. In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, but most of the world has forgotten Genesis 1, or worse, ridicules the notion that God made our world. Some say, “Who cares how God created the earth?” Yet our beliefs about beginnings lay a foundation for many areas of our life.

For instance, when we understand that God’s creatorship sets Him apart from all other “gods,” we realize that the Lord should be the supreme focus of our worship. “All the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens” (Psalm 96:5).

God as Creator is the basis for our worship because we are His creatures. This is seen in the last call for all the inhabitants of the world to “worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Revelation 14:7).

So also the Sabbath was given as a weekly reminder of Creation—a memorial day. We are told to “remember the Sabbath day. … For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth” (Exodus 20:8, 11). When you understand the true meaning of the Sabbath, God’s creation means a whole lot more.

Apply It:

This week welcome the Sabbath by reading passages about God as your Maker.

Dig Deeper:

Genesis 2:2, 3; 1 Chronicles 16:24–27; Isaiah 40:18–26