A living Memorial

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

A LIVING MEMORIAL

Josh 4:1-7

4:1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight." 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 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, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 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."

NIV

Twelve stones to be a reminder of what the LORD God had done. A sign of the Jordan River's waters being stopped so the whole nation of Israel could cross the Jordan on dry ground. They were to tell their children when they asked what those stones were. Do we have any signs and wonders that our children, or anyone, asks us about? Do we have any memorial that will last forever? We do know the Spirit will last forever, and He is also a sign of the covenant God made with us. He promised that if we believe in Jesus Christ we will be saved. Of course, now that we have believed, we understand the depth of this covenant. Jesus paid the price for our sins, died, was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended back to heaven and he is coming back again for us. He sent the Spirit as a sign or a guarantee of the covenant. However, the Israelites could see those stones and remember the work God did at the Jordan. We know that someday we will receive a white stone with our new name written on it, but the question still causes us to ask what the sign is others can see and ask us about. It has to be the Spirit, but that would mean the sign should be evident to others. We should be bearing the fruit of the Spirit that others could see, but the Spirit also gives gifts as he determines. That would mean one or more of the gifts of the Spirit would be present in us thus showing his divine influence in and through our lives. Are we a living memorial of the work of God making the way for us to cross over from darkness into light, from wandering in the wilderness to crossing over into a promised land? It is easy to just say we are Christians, but never express the evidence of the indwelling of the Spirit. Some of them never even set foot within a church, or if they do would it preach the truth of the gospel. To be a child of God should mean something and be evident to others, showing the work of Jesus and the influence of the Spirit as a memorial to all people forever. Simply put, let us shine the light of Jesus, being a living memorial.