This weekend, grills will fire up, flags will wave, and kids will run through sprinklers while parents kick back with a cold drink. Memorial Day, for many Americans, has become synonymous with sunshine, burgers, and an extra day off. But behind the laughter and leisure lies a blood-stained history too sacred to ignore. It’s time we faced it.
Your picnic came at a price.
Not a price paid at the grocery store or gas pump, but in trenches, in jungles, in deserts, and stormed beaches. It was paid in letters home that would never be answered. It was paid with dog tags and folded flags, with tears on gravestones and children growing up without their parent. Memorial Day is not just a holiday. It’s a holy reminder that freedom isn’t free.
We’ve gotten too casual about it. We slap “Happy Memorial Day” on store signs and social media posts, as if this day is about celebration instead of solemn remembrance. But Memorial Day is not Veterans Day. It’s not about thanking the living. It’s about honoring the dead. Specifically, the men and women of the armed forces who gave their lives so you could enjoy yours.
Think about that for a moment.
While you’re biting into a hot dog, someone else’s son bled out in a field in Normandy so that tyranny wouldn’t rule the world. While you’re laughing around a bonfire, a father died in the sands of Iraq so your kids could live free of fear. While you’re scrolling on your phone, a young woman took a bullet in Afghanistan and never came home to her dreams, her wedding day, or her family. And we’re worried about overcooked burgers?
Memorial Day is the most sacred secular holiday we have. And it should feel weighty.
Yes, go ahead and gather with your family. Yes, enjoy the beautiful day and the blessings we have. But do it with reverence. Let your children know why school is out. Let your conversations remember the cost. Pray for the families who don’t get to picnic because they’ll be at a cemetery. Fly the flag, not because it’s festive, but because it’s a symbol of lives laid down.
Jesus once said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13, ESV). Memorial Day reminds us that some among us have lived and died that very truth. Whether they believed in Jesus or not, their sacrifice reflects the greatest love we’ve ever known.
So as the grill sizzles and your kids laugh and the sun shines down, take a moment. Pause. Reflect. Thank God for the freedom you enjoy and the fallen who paid for it.
Because that picnic?
It wasn’t free.