MEMORIAL STONES
Read Time: 6 min 39 sec
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team.”
A.W. Tozer
THE GOOD STUFF
MEMORIAL STONES
by Jake Zurawski | Creative Arts & Co
I have a strange relationship with my memory.
I would say I have a pretty good memory. I was a solid test-taker in school because I could memorize the information for the period I needed it, and then discard it to prepare for the next shipment of required knowledge. That is useful in one sense because I got the grades, but if you asked me anything about the history of Russia and the Soviet Union now (a real class that I took in college), I would have very little to say. My memory also doesn’t work very well when my focus is on multiple things. For example, I’ve led worship many times, but I can’t begin to count how often I’ve sung the wrong words or forgotten lyrics of songs that I have sung hundreds of times. Ask my wife about me singing along to songs in the car and she’ll tell you I’m closer to writing a new song than singing the right words. Sometimes, when my mind gets focused on other things, I can forget.
In a more serious way, I can experience this same kind of forgetfulness in my relationship with God. The Lord has brought me through countless valleys and performed true miracles to bring me to Himself through His extraordinary grace, mercy, and love. But if I’m not intentional about focusing and rejoicing in those things, I can forget. And I can look to other things to satisfy me. And I can get bitter and feel like I’ve been battling it out on my own. And I can act like God owes me some sort of victory or sign of His love for me.
I think we can all relate to this in some way (at least I hope I’m not alone). There are stories in scripture that show how quickly we can become forgetful of the Lord’s faithfulness. In Exodus, we see the Lord bring the people of Israel out of Egypt via a crazy miracle: the Red Sea split in two as the people walked across on dry land. Holy smokies, right?! But just a couple of chapters later, the people are like “Ugh, I miss all the snacks we had in Egypt... There’s sand in my shoes... I stubbed my toe on one of the rocks at the bottom of the Red Sea when we walked across and it’s still hurting… Where is the Lord when you need Him?” And before we judge them, we do the same thing! We often trade gazing at the faithfulness of the Lord for staring at our next problem on the horizon.
In Joshua 3-4, God acknowledges that we often suffer from spiritual amnesia. He brings the people of Egypt through another body of water and keeps them dry as a bone by splitting it in two as they walk across. And this time, He tells Joshua to have 12 people gather 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River and set them up as memorial stones.
And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” – Joshua 4:20-24
I read this story a few weeks ago, and it’s stuck with me. What are the memorial stones I have set up in my life? How can I intentionally look back on the things the Lord has done for me and set up “stones” so that “all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty”? When I pass over the miracles of God in my life, I am not only robbing God of the glory He deserves, but I am robbing the world from hearing and seeing and learning that our God is a mighty and loving and amazing God worth surrendering our lives to.
Family, let us be people who remember the goodness of our God. To say “I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds” (Psalm 77:12). Don’t let the business of this world, the messiness of relationships, and the distraction of our problems justify our spiritual amnesia. Set up rhythms of remembering the things He has done. Thank Him for His faithfulness. And tell others about His goodness.
What memorial stones can you set up in your life?
GOD AT WORK AT REDEEMER
"Redeemer has been extremely impactful for me as God has, for lack of a better word, “revitalized” my faith over the past five years. I began coming to Redeemer the summer before my senior year in college when I was in a very dry and stagnant season in my faith. The preaching at Redeemer really challenged me in a way that I had not been challenged in a very long time… and it renewed my hunger for Jesus and His word! The worship reminded me of what it was like to worship in spirit and truth and got me into a true spirit of worship for the first time in a while. From the get-go, God has used Redeemer to renew my faith and revitalize a new zeal and love for the LORD when I was truly in a season of disconnect.
Upon graduation from college, I expressed interest in kids ministry. Ironically, they had me observe some guy named Kevin Adams before I officially started working! Through Redeemer Kids, God has given me a front-row seat to what He was and is doing in so many little hearts and minds. He has also pushed me to grow as a leader over the past couple of years as I have taken on more responsibilities in this ministry.
Finally, I had the amazing opportunity last spring to be baptized with a believer's baptism. This occurred only after several months of God’s prompting, but He was doing such a sweet work in my heart throughout the process.
Redeemer truly is a special place and family. I can feel and see the Spirit moving in so many ways, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store once we move into our very own sending base that He has provided.”