In 1968, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr. took command of the American naval forces in Vietnam. In an effort to reduce US casualties, he ordered the waterways sprayed with the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. It was a move designed to push back the jungle and make it harder for North Vietnamese to ambush Navy river patrol boats at point-blank range.

One of those boats was commanded by his 21-year-old son, Lieutenant Elmo Zumwalt III, who died of cancer in 1988. The admiral believed that Agent Orange killed his son. What a heartbreaking story of a father who made a decision that resulted in great suffering for his own son!

How much greater was the heartbreak of God the Father when He provided salvation for us! He made a decision that resulted in immeasurable agony for His only Son. Think of how God must have felt as He watched His Son suffer the mockery of the crowd, the lashes of the whip, the pain of the nails through His hands and feet, the inexpressible weight and humiliation of our sins, and the indescribable agony of isolation and abandonment.

Father, forgive us for adding to Your pain by our lack of gratitude. Please help us to live in a way that will honor Your Son, who defeated sin and death—for us.    — Mart De Haan