Memorials: Grace to Remember

 

“this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you should tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.” ” Joshua 4:6-7 HCSV

Joshua 4 is basically what God commanded the Israelites to do in response to what He has accomplished for them. In Joshua 3 we read that the Israelites were ready to cross the Jordan river which was overflowing its banks. God told Joshua to have the priests who carry the ark of the covenant to begin to carry it into the river. “and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water...the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away...so the people crossed...And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”(verses 15-17)NASV

In this chapter, the Lord has Joshua pick 12 men, one from each tribe, to go into the river bed while the priests are still standing firmly in the middle of it and pick up a large stone. They lay these down at the place where they lodge that evening. These are the stones referred to in the verses above.

Evidently this is important because God reiterates this statement in the last verses of the chapter: “

“And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:20-24 ESV

God knows that we are not very good “rememberers”! We need reminders, memorials; it seems that most of ours have to do with death. Maybe we need some that have to do with life, the life that God has given us, the faithfulness and graciousness of our God. Maybe, some-how, by God's gracious creativity we could make even those death memorials about the life that God gave and graciously continues to give us through Christ's death, burial and resurrection.

When I was a teen in a small town in West Texas, attending a small Baptist church, I still recall a lady singing a very country sounding song that had this phrase:“Pull back the curtains of memory now and then, show me where You brought me from and where I could have been. Remember, I'm human and humans forget, so remind me, remind me dear Lord.”

I can still hear the twang! But the sentiment is important, in fact I would say that it needs to be a daily remembering. A lot of our lack of faith can be attributed to the fact that we have forgotten the grace that God has bestowed upon us. We forget how big God is when we forget the mighty works that He has graciously wrought on our behalf. Camp out at the cross and the tomb, remember the gospel. Preach it to yourself! Grab a large piece of paper and just start listing all the things that the Lord has done for you. Ask God to give you creative ideas for “memorials” that you can put up to be a testament to you and your children and others that the Lord is mighty and we should fear/honor/trust Him forever. Tell your kids why you have a cross hanging on your wall or a picture with a certain scripture.

Father God, please, show us what memorials we need to put up to help us remember what You have done for us. Help us to be faithful to tell our children, to talk about You and Your word and Your faithfulness as we go and as we sit in our homes, when we rise and when we lay down. Lord, help us to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and grant us grace to remember all that You have done for us and how greatly You have loved us. In Jesus name, amen.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV