Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
Memorial Day is now celebrated on the last Monday in May!
In our travels into cemeteries, Linda and I often see markers for soldiers from different era’s and wars, their memorials.
Our lives have many memorials in them, things that preserve remembrance. Whether it’s a birth, death, marriage, or some event; we often preserve that memory by writing about it in a book or taking pictures.
There is a memorial mentioned in the Bible; so the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there.
Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day. Josh 4:8-9
This was a reminder of God’s promise being fulfilled as they Hebrews entered the new land.
I have my own memorial day of January 15, 1975.
It is the day I will always remember when I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sin and be my Savior.
It is a memorial set up in my heart.