While I’m seeing Veterans Day posts all over my social media sites, I find myself contemplating some really brilliant thoughts our friend Niki shared with us at church on Sunday. Of course we had all our veterans stand up and we thanked them for their service. Thanked them for defending our country and our rights. Words we hear often. Words that have great meaning but can sometimes lose some of their impact because of how often we hear them.

And then Niki started talking about our calling. How God calls us to different things. He calls some of us to be teachers or mothers. Some are called to be mechanics or farmers. He calls some of us to lead and some of us to be the support team. He calls all of us, but it depends on us to hear the call and to act on it. Our service men and women are called to that task by some higher power (whether you believe in God or not). Because not everyone would make the sacrifices these men and women make.

And then Niki made the most brilliant and impactful point I had ever heard. She looked out at us and said, “How many of you would stand in harms way for your children, for your parents, for your spouse? … Most of us – sure! But would you be willing to die… would you be willing to stand in front of that gun for someone you don’t even know? Someone you don’t like? Someone who hates you?” It’s a very sobering thought. While it’s easy to be willing to sacrifice yourself for the people you love most in this world, being willing to die for people you don’t know or don’t like – well that’s not something we would all do. But that is exactly what our service men and women do!

These men and women put their lives on the line – not for just their family and love ones, but for all of us. They are willing to make that ultimate sacrifice for EVERYONE! Not just the good people or the ones they like but for all of us. And if you are Christian – there is only one other person who has ever done that – and that is Jesus. Jesus died for all of us. The good, the bad, the broken – he didn’t know us and he probably didn’t like some of us. But he died for all of us.

I was really blown away by this comparison and the truth that lies there. Everything these men and women sacrifice for us and they don’t even know us. And a lot of times it can be a thankless job. They do it because they have heard the call and they answered. Regardless of whether they are thanked for it, regardless of the cost – they fight for us and our rights. So to all our service men and women THANK YOU! We cannot repay you enough for what you do for us!