John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Matthew 20:26-28 “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
I started this series with the following thought from Abigail Adams about the value of their sacrifice during the early days of the nation’s revolutionary journey: “This day dearest of Friends completes 13 years since we were solemnly united in wedlock; 3 years of the time we have been cruelly separated. I have patiently as I could endured it with the Belief that you were serving your Country, and rendering your fellow creatures Essential Benefits. May future Generations rise up and call you Blessed, and the present behave worthy of the blessings you are Labouring to secure to them, and I shall have less reason to regret the deprivation of my own particular felicity.”
Towards the end of a public life characterized by sacrificial service, Abigail wrote the following: “With respect to what is past, all was intended for the best, and you have the Satisfaction of knowing that you have faithfully served your generation, that you have done it at the expense of all private Considerations and you do not know whether you would have been a happier Man in private, than you have been in publick Life. The exigencies of the times were such as call’d you forth. You considered yourself as performing your duty. With these considerations, I think you have not any cause for regret. What remains to us of Life, we must expect to have checkered with good and evil, and let us patiently endure the one and rejoice in the other as becomes those who have a better hope and brighter prospects beyond the Grave.”
Praise God for those throughout our nation’s history and still today who sacrifice themselves for the well-being of our communities and our country! Praise God for those who selflessly serve others, and who pour their lives into the betterment of society!
They should labor with satisfaction that they have faithfully served their generation. While they have done so at the expense of private considerations, they should be warmed with a sense of joy, fulfillment, and satisfaction. We need such men and women who are called forth to perform their duty in such a way during the exigencies of our times. May they have no cause for regret, and may they ultimately be motivated by the better hope and brighter prospects that lie beyond the grave.
PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE FULLY INVESTED THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE TO OTHERS, AND MAY MANY MORE JOIN THEM IN DOING SO. As I close this series on John and Abigail Adams, may we all recognize the powerful example they provided throughout their sacrificial journey together. Praise God that they faithfully performed their duty, and so must we!
