Today is Veterans Day. A day we honor our Military men and women. I love reading and watching movies that show the sacrifice our veterans made. (Especially WWII) Shortly following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt began to make plans that Japan be bombed as soon as possible to boost public morale. The aircraft chosen was the B-52 Bomber. An aircraft that could get the job done expect for one think. When fully loaded the plane was too heavy to take off from our aircraft carriers.
Col. Jimmy Doolittle was to lead his "Raiders" to drop their bombs on Tokyo. To overcome the excessive weight, they removed the lower gun turret, the liaison radio set, and all their machine guns and ammunition. Broom and mop handles were painted black and stuck on the windows to resemble machine guns. Anything that was not essential for the mission was discarded.
I immediately saw the parallel with our spiritual lives. As Christ-followers we need to removed anything that hinders us in our following Jesus. If it doesn't help, it probably hinders. What is hindering you from become a mature disciple of Christ? Bitterness? Unforgiveness? Materialism? Peer Pressure? The writer of Hebrews wrote: "...let us strip off every weight that slows us
down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with
endurance the race God has set before us." The analogy here was of a runner with ankle weights attached. No serious athlete would attempt running a race loaded down.
But yet, I talk with Christians every week that are still carrying "baggage" that is hindering their walk with Jesus. Like these B-52s unless you get rid of the excess weight, you will not reach your destination as well.
I am proud to be an American AND a veteran!
No comments:
Post a Comment