The holidays are wonderful family times of telling stories that serve to protect family culture. Every family seems to have a story about themselves that gets re-told over and over yet never gets old. Funny how some less important ones get repeated and more meaningful ones don’t.
“So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” — Joshua 4:4-7
The crossing of the Jordan river was a huge mile marker for the Israelites and God knew it. He also knew that we have a short term memory so He instructs Joshua to gather 12 stones to serve as a visual reminder of their story of freedom, answered promises, and provision to tell their kids and grandkids.
- Freedom from oppression
- Parting of the Red Sea
- Providing food every day as they journeyed without a home
- Crossing of the Jordan River
- A Promise of a Land of Milk & Honey
Awesome but then we come to Judges 2:10. “Then a new generation grew up that didn’t know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel.” Wow!
Somewhere across the next 26 chapters leading into Judges, the Israelites stopped re-telling their story of His amazing grace. The 12 stones became just that– stones. The stones lost their voice. And unfortunately I don’t think this is just an Israelite problem. I think it is for me today.
- My friend, who won’t go to church, agreed to come to a Christian musical yet I forgot to praise Him.
- No one sat next to me on a long flight so I could sleep– He knew what I needed without asking.
- I prayed for strength to get through a difficult conversation with my daughter and forgot to thank Him.
- The daily devotional verse was written for me yet I moved on without acknowledging His intimacy.
Have you lost your testimony somewhere? Do you fail to recognize the simple small wins of blessings? What are you doing to preserve His name and stories of faithfulness so they are not being lost between your Joshua & Judges?
Reflection |
What can you do to keep your Stones of faithfulness speaking loudly to future generations?
Thank you for this reminder Mike. We often are moving so quickly we forget to pause and even when we see symbols that are meant to make use pause and express appreciation.
Ya you’re right– It’s good to stop and smell the roses from time to time.