Heroes In Plain Clothes

Do we have heroes today?  Not just Superheroes or Ninja Turtles. Do we have honest to goodness heroes? I wondered about that lately as I read the account of some war heroes and remembered my dad’s story.

During the war, dad was on the front lines doing what he was trained to do when an unusual situation happened somewhere on the western front in Holland. It seems that a platoons of Belgian solders were lost in the fog and no chance of survival if someone didn’t get to them soon and bring them out. No one stepped forward until dad offered to go. They agreed to let him ‘give it a go’.  He went off into the fog and using his radio, found them and brought all twelve men back. The Belgian Captain thanked him over and over and wanted to give him something for what he had done. Dad modestly didn’t want anything but said he would like a German pistol as a memento. The officer told him that he would get something even better.

The war ended and Dad was home and working as a carpenter in Hamilton. One day another carpenter drove by dad’s work site. Calling to him that sunny morning he told him that his name was mentioned on the radio that morning and he was going to get a medal for some reason. As children we never even knew about this until my daughter did a report for school on someone they knew who went overseas in the war. To us kids, he was just 'Dad'.

That radio announcement told him he had won the Belgium Croix de Guerre with Oak Leaf for bravery. It is one of only a handful ever given to a non-com soldier. Was he a hero? yes and no. To himself, he was just another human being doing what he could for another human being.

Our world is still full of heroes. Our history books and daily newspapers are filled with them and so is our bible. The disciples, going against unimaginable persecution made the decision to tell the world about Jesus. Even today, Christians all over the world are standing up for Jesus no matter what happens. And to those people who come to Christ and receive forgiveness and eternal life, through that one individual, they know who a hero is. Are you a hero to someone else?  Can you remember your hero? Jesus is more than a hero, because He died so I could live forever.

Something to think about

Rob