 generation survived. Every man and woman over 20 had died. Babies born during that era are now approaching 40. Now they’ve arrived to claim their God-ordained destiny.
Just like when Israel left Egypt and the Red Sea parted, so did the water of the Jordan River. As the people began marching through on dry land imagine the anticipation. The excitement. The exhilaration. It would be a day they would never forget.
So, to memorialize the occasion, God commanded 12 men, one from every tribe, to pick up a stone from the river bed and carry them across to where they would lodge. Joshua then explained why.
“This may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever” (Josh. 4:6-7).
In a similar way, we do the same thing today. Memorials of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln in Washington, D.C. call attention to our nation’s founders and its great leaders. Over 160 monuments, memorials, and statues in our nation’s capital remind us of our history. Where we came from. Who we are. And how we arrived here.
Individually, we frame pictures of our family, make scrapbooks of important events, and collect souvenirs on our travels to remind us. When people ask us about them, it offers an opportunity to tell a story or honor a loved one.
After my Mom died, I kept the last Bible she used on my desk as a reminder of who she was, what she taught me, and my spiritual heritage. When we began traveling, I gave it to Norma Jean to use so we would constantly have it before our eyes.
I have in my office a little pocket New Testament that belonged to my Dad. He always liked to carry a Bible with him. I also have a Bible that belonged to my brother, Bill, that I pried out of the wreckage of the car in which he died in 1975. These Bib