Thanking the Liberator

740th Tank Battalion

Georgette walked down the sidewalk toward the fellowship hall at First United Methodist Church in Timpson, Texas.  A flood of memories raced through her mind as she made her way toward the coming luncheon.  She could see people inside through the windows.  She remembered.  She could never forget.

The Nazi Army had laid siege to her city and her country so long ago.  She had only been a little girl yet she could never forget the fear that gripped her during those dark days growing up in her little hamlet of Neufchateau, Belgium.

She recalled the Allied armies that chased the Fascist Army from her beloved home and how thrilled that she had been when the 740th Tank Battalion had rolled into the city to protect her, her family and her people.

Shortly, they were forced to leave in order to counter the Nazi assault as it tried to retake the area in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge.  She and her people had prayed countless prayers for the Allies to be successful.  God heard those prayers as the Allied forces repelled the strong surge by the Nazis, even though they fought in freezing cold conditions with scant resources.

She reached for the door to the fellowship hall, turned the knob and stepped in.  She was met by friendly faces that introduced themselves to her and welcomed her.  Then she was met by the man, Joe Dillon, who had served in the 740th Tank Battalion that helped to liberate her city and her country.

A simple "thank you" seemed so little after all this time, yet it was all that she could give to this man who had risked his life to save hers and so many others.  She kissed him on the cheek and said, "Thank you."

Long ago and far away, a young man was condemned for crimes that he did not commit.  He had done nothing wrong, yet the world hated him and required him to pay for their hatred with his life.

He was whipped and beaten, yet he didn't open his mouth.  He was forced to drag a Roman cross through the streets of his beloved city, Jerusalem, in front of the people that he had come to save.  They spit on him and cursed him.  On a hill outside the city, he was nailed to the cross and lifted up before the world so that everyone might cast insults upon him.

He later died and was buried in a tomb, yet on the third morning he arose from the dead.  This man was no mortal man but God's own Son who had come to pay the ultimate price for all of the sins of the human race.  He had come to liberate us from the great tyranny of sin and death that has plagued humankind since the time of Adam.

1Co 15:55-57 says, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"  For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.  But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ."

May we never forget the great price that has been paid to set us free from captivity to sin and death.  A simple "Thank  you" seems so little to offer for one who has done so much.  After all, He has liberated us from our arch enemies and won the great victory for us on the cross and in the empty tomb.  Let us always and everywhere give Christ the thanks and devotion that He deserves today and every day, for He is our Liberator both now and forever.