Israel crossed the Jordon River into the promised land on dry ground. Not because they needed to, but just to show God’s favor had indeed passed to Joshua. God didn’t want to risk any challenges to Joshua’s leadership; he didn’t want to leave room for anyone to question whether or not Joshua really had his approval.
I love this. I love how proactively God is looking out for Joshua. I love how personal he is, how protective.
I also love how, once again, they erect a monument to the miracle. Over and over again we see these constructed – to commemorate the provision of the Lord, or his promise, or his appearance.
It struck me as I was reading about this one that we could use more of these in our personal lives.
Yes, we live in a world full of memorials. War memorials, monuments to heroes, disasters, and historical events. Most of us drive right past the local monuments on a regular basis, barely paying any attention to them at all. Tourists visit them, children on school trips. We might go if we’re showing someone around, one of those tourists or kids, but they just kind of fade into the background of our lives. We get so used to seeing them that they lose their importance. Unless we’re the tourist visiting another city…
But how many of us build our own memorials? Have you ever bought a piece of jewelry to celebrate a particular personal victory? Do you collect a particular type of souvenir everywhere you travel?
I collect Willow Tree figures for significant life events. I have one for our wedding, every pregnancy announcement I made, every birth… death. I have one for a new job, a personal achievement, and a couple that were gifts recognizing my interests. I collect souvenir bells everywhere I visit. I’ve actually gone on ebay to find some for a couple places I forgot to get while I was there, or just couldn’t find one I liked. I collect commemorative Christmas tree ornaments every year. I pick out one that reminds me of something significant in the life of each kid over the past year.
But do I build monuments to God’s provision? Specifically? Do I erect reminders of the ways he has specifically and directly intervened in my life?
There are a couple of those Christmas tree ornaments that would quallify, and I have a Willow Tree nativity set, but those get packed away 9 months of the year.
I have a tattoo that represents my faith, but that’s a covenant reminder, not a monument to provision.
It’s something to think about. We have, or should have, all sorts of reminders surrounding us. The proverbial mark on the forehead, on the door posts, the tassels on our garments. We hang scripture on our walls, wear crosses, and have Bibles laying out. So, yeah, we have our reminders. But specifically… What do you have that’s specific… And should there be more?