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ZuluDo you have "memorial stones" to serve as God reminders—reminders of God's love and faithfulness?
Forgetting is dangerous.
When you make the same mistakes repeatedly, you can harm yourself and others with your choices. You become your own worst enemy.
However, you can choose a different path.
Let’s learn from one of the most surprising stories of forgetfulness in the Bible—the Israelites journey to the Promised Land.
After their miraculous deliverance from slavery and daily provision of divine food, the Israelites doubted God when it was time to take possession of the land (Num. 13-14). They forgot who God was. They forgot His power, provision, and protection.
By believing Satan’s ancient lie that God was withholding good, tricking them, and leading them to failure (Gen. 3:1-5), doubt and fear paralyzed them. They refused to go into the Promised Land (Num. 1-14). As a result, they lost the privilege and wandered the wilderness for 40 long years.
When the time came for their children to enter the Promised Land, God protected the Israelites from their future forgetfulness (Josh. 3-4). He instructed them to build a memorial of twelve stones to remind the people of who God is and what God had done.
He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their parents, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[a] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God."
God knew hard times were on the horizon. They would need a visual reminder of His faithfulness and love.
The Israelites' memorial stones not only served the Israelites, but it also served three groups of people:
1. All future generations
“In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground…'” (Joshua 4:21-22). Every person in every generation faces the question—can I trust God? Their memorial stones served as a God reminder to future generations and provided a visual reminder for stories of God’s faithfulness for generations to pass to future generations.
2. All nations
“He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful…” (Joshua 4:24). God’s love does not have boundaries. He came for all people on earth, and we are to show God’s love to all as well.
3. All believers
“so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” (Joshua 4:24) God desires that we love Him with genuine affection, have a personal authentic relationship with Him, and respect Him with awe and wonder.
The Israelites’ stone memorial shows us how to live our purpose by looking “looking down” to teach future generations, “looking out” to make disciples in all nations, and “looking up” to glorify God in all we do.
You can create “memorial stones” from times in your life when you experienced God’s love and faithfulness. This way when facing difficult times, your memorial stones will serve as God reminders of His goodness.
Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.
Here are 3 simple ways to create God reminders:
1. Keep and create your own "memorial stones"
Make your own God reminders through physical representations of moments of God’s movement in your life (e.g., stones or keepsakes). This is a great activity to do together with your family or others while discussing God’s faithfulness and love.
2. Keep a faith journal
Document your faith journey and make notes so you can look back and remember how God worked in and through you. Write down prayer requests (include date entered and date answered). Note reminders of God’s faithfulness and everlasting love for you.
3.. Keep a memorial of an important moment or achievement
Your True Story, comes with a Certificate of Achievement after completing the 50-Day faith journey to remember what God did in your life during the journey. Keep memorial stones as you deepen your relationship with Jesus and remember how you have grown in Christ.
Not only are these moments important enough to be remembered and marked, but they also serve as powerful reminders to others around us.
Your memorial stones open the way for spiritual conversations. Learn how to start spiritual conversations here. Your stories and memorial stones help others relate to you and provide powerful evidence of God’s goodness to those around you.
If you want to learn how to serve future generations, pass down essential truths, and be a disciple maker, click below to discover more about our new 50-Day faith journey, Your True Story.
As you create your memorial stones to serve as God reminders for you and future generations, remember to look down, look out, and look up just like the Israelites—to advance the gospel to all generations, all people, and all for God’s glory.
What memorial stones have you created? Comment below, we would love to hear.
