What Will Be Your Reward

     This week the most ironic thing happened, I was moved to tears from an email I received about a war hero. I am not an anti-war person, but war stories are like hunting stories, they are a little too . . . manly. They usually do not pull the girlie heartstrings. Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate our soldiers and I honor them for their sacrifice. But the email I received pulled my heart strings.

Here's what this soldier wrote…

   "You are a 19 year old kid. You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highland of Viet Nam. It is 1967. Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your commanding officer has ordered the MediEvac helicopters to stop coming in. You are lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out. Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then – over the machine gun noise – you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter. You look up to see a Huey coming in. But . . . it doesn’t seem real because there's no MediEvac marking are on it. Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you. He’s not MediEvac so it’s not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway. Even after the MediEvacs were ordered not to come, he’s coming anyway! And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire as they load 3 of you at time on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!! Until all of the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm. He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey."
     Wow! What a sacrificial hero. The whole time I was reading it, I thought it was going to take a turn to a spiritual comparison, but since it didn’t; I will. We were like those critically wounded dying on ground in the jungle of this world. Our enemy, Satan, was constantly shooting deadly fire at us like a machine gun. There was nothing and nobody able to save us! Then Jesus Christ came in to save us, though it cost Him wounds physically through beatings and crucifixion. For all those that turn to Him as their Savior and Lord, He carries out the wounded, heals them and guides them throughout their life.
     Now for the rest of the story. In 1981, President George W. Bush gave his first presidential medal of honor to Captain Ed Freeman. Medals of Honor are only given by the president and are the highest honor a military person can receive. Though he was retired, from the day he received his medal to the day he died (which was August 2008), wherever he went he was to be saluted by any enlisted personnel or officer of rank. After he received his medal, President Bush gave him his first salute as a Medal of Honor Recipient.
     I cannot imagine what it must have felt like to receive such an honor from the most powerful person in our country. It makes me think about standing in front of the Creator of our universe, the greatest power over all. It will be at that time that we will receive our rewards for our service to God. How amazing will it be to receive a reward when we have already been given salvation! On top of that, can you imagine Jesus saying, “Well done my good and faithful servant!” Captain Freeman did not believe he deserved such recognition as the Medal of Honor, and neither did the other living 50 recipients at that time. Neither do I feel worthy of any special recognition from my Heavenly Father.

               His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful!"
                                                                   Matthew 25:21a