Reading from Joshua 4 You like to camp? I am not talking about with electricity and air conditioning but just the great outdoors. Me… not so much but have enjoyed doing it as late because of a few godly men in my life. A verse from this chapter is at the foot of a cross with white stones around it at Second Chance Ranch, the place where we camp. (Shameless plug: pray for Brother King and this place)
“that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’” Joshua 4:6
40 years prior to this the previous generation of Israel had watched the Lord split the Red Sea so they could escape the pending danger of the Egyptians. That generation spent the next 40 years in the wilderness complaining against Moses and the Lord. Now, the sons and daughters of that generation are crossing over the Jordan in the same manner. The Lord has split the Jordan so they could walk thru on dry land. The Lord tells them to take 12 stones from the bottom of the dry Jordan riverbed and place them for a memorial for their children to remember what He did for them.
Let’s not miss this was something only God could have accomplished in their lives. The laying of the stones as a memorial was also a commandment to share with their children this thing only, He could have accomplished. Peter encourages the church thousands of years after this moment. Jesus has come and redeemed His people and Peter writes, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:4-5
Today, you and I get to live in such a way people recognize the Father’s work in our lives. Our transformed lives speak to what only He could do. Would people recognize the Spirit of God has done a deep work in your life? I’m not talking about being nice and people speaking good of you but are you a LIVING STONE giving glory to the Lord for all He has done? If not, today is a good day to draw near to Him and let an outward expression speak of an inward transformation that only the Father could accomplish.
- To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.