4/11/14 (Yesterday's blog post)

4/11/14 (Yesterday's blog post)

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. He told them, "Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' Then you can tell them, 'They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the lord 's Covenant went across.' These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever." So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there. (Joshua 4:4-8 NLT)

People have all kinds of things dedicated to their memory. Heck, the small stained glass window in our church is dedicated in someone's name, and we buy Easter lilies and poinsettias in memory of loved ones at holidays. Why is this done? Because remembering is important. There are certain things in life that should never be forgotten. In his address in Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln, puts it very well.

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

See, it's not really about remembering old granny, it's about what granny stood for, it about never forgetting her sacrifice, or her dedication. It's about granny making this world a better place. That is something we can never forget.

This is the point of the memorial that Joshua had set up at Gilgal. The twelve stones mark a fulfillment of God's promise. Not that drying up the Jordan at flood stage wasn't something to be remembered, but memory only lasts a lifetime. Once the people who saw it are gone, the memory fades, and it's truth is often questioned. See, we easily forget, and without constant reminders of things that took place, the memories go away. This is the reason Joshua had this memorial built, to be a physical reminder that God did something great here, and it deserves remembrance.

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