On May 3, 1919, the first passenger flight in American history took place between New York City and Atlantic City.
On May 3, 1923, John Macready and Oakley Kelley made the first nonstop transcontinental flight.
On May 3, 1932, 24 tourists started the first air charter holiday. It ran from London to Basle, Switzerland.
On May 3, 1952, an airplane first landed at the geographic North Pole.
And, though it might be considered more in the line of space than aviation, on May 3, 1994, the US space probe Clementine was launched.
If ever a day could be deemed important in the history of flight, it seems that May 3 fits the bill.
Spiritually speaking, another day is much more important. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps 118:24).
We have a bad habit of taking verses out of context to try to prove a doctrinal point or, in this case, make one of those feel-good memes. All it takes is a close reading of the entire psalm and anyone with even a smattering of Biblical knowledge can see what it's about. Read it right now before you continue with this and see if you can't figure it out yourself.
I hope you have done that reading. It was pretty easy wasn't it? Let's just take the two most obvious verses. Verse 22: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This one is even quoted in 1 Pet 2:7, and Paul uses the metaphor in Eph 2:22 of Christ as the cornerstone. This Psalm is about the coming Messiah.
Now look at verse 26: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. This is exactly what the crowd shouted as Jesus rode into Jerusalem the Sunday before his death. Add to that the "Hosanna" in verse 25. (Hosanna means "save" and is translated that way in this verse.) Many already believed he was the One whose coming they had looked for over a thousand years.
If you keep reading the psalm, it should become apparent to you that "the day the Lord has made" is the one in which salvation comes, the Messiah comes, even as it says in verse 21, I thank you that you have answered me and become my salvation.
That is certainly the most important day in history for all mankind, the day the Messiah offered salvation to all by giving his life and then rising from the dead to defeat sin and death. So now that it is in its proper context: This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us [Hosanna}, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD (Ps 118:19-26).
Dene Ward