MOVING FORWARD: REMEMBERING WITH THANKSGIVING
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To forget to thank God for what He has done for us is to forget who we are and why we are here.
In Joshua chapter 4, God told Joshua: “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” Why? The stones were to serve as a memorial. How so?
The memorial served as a reminder of what God had done for each of them personally.
“These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:7
Memorials give significance to the present because they give perspective to the past.
God wants us to remember what He has done, so the way we live and think now, is radically different.
If we are thankful for what He has done in the past, we will be thankful in the present. If we forget what He’s done in the past, we are quick to forget what He’s doing for us now.
What kind of visual, physical or mental memorials do you have in your life that you look back on and thank the Lord?
The memorial served as a reminder to share their stories of what God had done.
“In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the Joshua 4:6 & 21
Christianity is only one generation away from extinction.
How are you passing on your faith to the next generation?
The memorial served as a reminder that the shame of the past had been rolled away.
And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. Joshua 4:20
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Joshua 5:9
The memorial in Gilgal was a reminder to the Israelites that their past was over. They no longer needed to look back and every time they saw the memorial, they would give thanks for what God had done for 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, to serve as a sign among you. Joshua 4: 5-6
It is in the midst of the situations that we are in, no matter how terrible, hopeless or awful they are, that we find our memorial stones.
Has God healed your body?
Give thanks and build a memorial.
Has God delivered you from addiction?
Give thanks and build a memorial.
Has God put clothes on you, placed a roof over your head and food on your table?
Give thanks and build a memorial.
Has God ever met a financial need for you?
Give thanks and build a memorial.
Has God ever blessed you?
Give thanks and build a memorial.
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