This Week in History: Washington Monument and a Christian Application

I can remember when I was a young teenager going on a family vacation to Washington D.C. I was amazed by the towering Washington Monument. I can remember that it towers at the top of the D.C. skyline. As a child I was disappointed that it was closed for remodeling as I would have loved the opportunity to go to the top. The Washington Monument is an amazing structure constructed for an amazing man who did so much for our country. Have you ever wondered about the history behind the monument, or wondered why they decided to make a monument for Washington?

It was in 1783 (yes, even before Washington was president) that the structure was first proposed and when the city of Washington D.C. was designed the designer even left room for the structure. George Washington died in 1799 and they discussed a memorial at that time for him but once again never actually put one in motion. In 1832 at the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Washington they finally decided to build him his monument. Robert Mills, an architect, was chosen for the project and he came up with an Egyptian Obelisk design. On July 4th, 1848 the cornerstone was finally laid. The construction of this monument was held up by politics in the 1850's however, and then by the Civil War in the 1860's. At last in 1876 Congress finally passed legislation that would allow the monument to be finished. On this week in history in the year 1885 the Washington Monument was finally dedicated. The monument was the tallest structure in the world when completed and although it is no longer the tallest structure in the world remains the tallest structure completely built out of stone.

When great men do great things our society honors them for this. We build monuments, statues, make holidays,name streets, buildings, and cities after those who do great things for our society. We show how thankful we are for their service. The greatest man who ever walked this earth was Jesus Christ. No man has done more for mankind. After all it is through Jesus that we can have salvation. How do we show our thankfulness to Christ? I would suggest that the best way to show your thankfulness to Christ would be to give your life to him and live for him everyday through what the Bible tells us to do. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:1 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." The kind of worship that the Bible is talking about here is the latreo kind. This kind of worship talks about a worship that serves. This is a worship that must be lived out. Are you living your life as a "monument" to Christ. If not why not start today?