Memorials to Remember [Joshua 4]

  ¹Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, ²"Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, ³and command them, saying, 'Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.'" ⁴So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; ⁵and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ⁶"Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' ⁷then you shall say to them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off ' So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever."

Do you have memorial stones in your life?  Are there things that you have that will always remind You of the great things God has done for you?  When your children ask what they mean to you, will you be ready to tell them what God did?  I grew up in a family where my father (and uncles) hunted deer and elk each fall to provide meat for our family.  When I was in fifth grade my grandpa died when he got lost hunting alone. Our family has a memorial to remember how after looking for six weeks for his body in the woods, God gave two men in his church dreams about where he was.  They were able to draw a map from those dreams of a countryside they had not been in, and that map led my mom and her sister right to his body.  My mom wrote down the story in detail years later so we would never forget how God powerfully and carefully took care of our family.  

This chapter ends with these words, "For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever."(verses 24-25).  The memorials are not just for our children they are so the whole world can know that the hand of God is powerful.

You, God are mighty and You know how to take care of Your people.  May we hold You in highest value (fear) You forever.