by Pastor Bob Lawrenz
The religious
holiday of Pentecost coincides with the Memorial Day Holiday weekend this year.
The Jews celebrated the harvest of wheat, and the sheaves became Wave Offerings
to Jehovah God, fifty days after Passover.
On that first Pentecost after Jesus’
Resurrection, the holiday did not look back at what God had done in the harvest
fields, rather, it pointed to the future and how Jesus was going to grow His
Church. New meaning was given to this holiday. While the Jews still celebrate
the wheat harvest, Jesus’ Church celebrates the harvest of men’s hearts and
souls unto salvation, by the Holy Spirit.
Our National Holiday of Memorial Day is a
reminder of those who have served in our nation’s Armed Services, many of whom
gave their lives for the cause of freedom while defending our country. Wars
have taken a costly toll on our military personnel over the years; and there
seems to be more new enemies all the time. Countless white crosses adorn the
fields of several foreign countries.
King Solomon wrote, “There is nothing new
under the sun.” It should not surprise us that we still fight some of those
same enemies. It was President Thomas Jefferson that took our fleet of ships
used for our own coastal defenses and formed the U.S. Navy. Among the Navy’s
first deployments overseas was to the Mediterranean
to fight Muslim Pirates (Barbary) from disrupting the free shipping trade routes
along the African coastline, throughout the Mediterranean, and southward along Africa’s Atlantic coast. They would commandeer
ships, steal cargo, and plunder coastal villages, threatening and enslaving both
sailors and village inhabitants along Africa’s
northern and western shores.
Some of the countries there still host the spiritual
pirates of Islam who threaten, enslave, and kill. If you know a Veteran, thank
him for his or her service to our country, and pray for those who serve today
against an ancient enemy. See today’s wars as the Spiritual Battles that they
truly are. The wars are ancient, yet the Spirit is renewed day by day, sounding
the alarm against false gods, and cruel faiths, and Satan, mankind’s most ancient
enemy.
“ BATTLE STATIONS ! ”
“Say not ye, ‘There
are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?’
Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields;
for they are white already to harvest.” ~ John 4:35
Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields;
for they are white already to harvest.” ~ John 4:35
