Devotionals

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What Mean ye by These Stones?

Joshua 4:1-7

And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,

Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:

And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:

That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what mean ye by these stones?

Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

It wasn’t the stones that held a special power; it was in the remembering; telling over and over again, from one generation to the next, what God did! The stones were used as a tool to prompt someone to ask, hey mom, what mean ye by these stones? Now the door is open, and mom and dad will relate the day they crossed over Jordon on dry ground! They will sit around the fire and sip on dried locust cider (okay just my vivid imagination) and tell of all the miracles God performed! But it didn’t stop there! That child would grow up and one day his child would say, hey dad, what mean ye by these stones? Again the story would unravel about the mighty acts of God! How his parents crossed over Jordon on dry ground, and on it goes!

Now let’s fast forward to today. When is the last time your child or grandchild asked you, what mean ye by these stones? (Okay maybe it would sound more like, hey mom what’s these stones mean?) Have you shared the stories about God’s goodness in your life with your friends and family? Do they hear about God’s miracles that He has performed in your life!

As a child I grew up hearing about God’s goodness! My family has many stones of remembrance (not literally) and the miracles I heard about and the miracles I witnessed I share frequently with my children! I trust that as their children grow they will share these stories plus the new ones added by what they have witnessed!

Not only is it beneficial to pass these mighty works of God on to your family but also it is very easy to get bogged down with the cares of this world and before you know it, we’ve lost sight of the miracles that have transpired in our lives and can see only the hard places!

My encouragement today is to remember what God has done! Regardless what has happened or what it looks like, I believe you will be able to find an act of God that can be a stone of remembrance and don’t be surprised if someone happens to ask you, what mean ye by these stones?

Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminder to remember your goodness and mercy! Many today have had a hard life, filled with so many trials and we know, even as they read this they are wondering what good has happened in their life – where are the stones carried out of Jordon? Lord, we ask today that you would open their eyes and allow them to see past the mess and recall your goodness, mercy, grace and longsuffering! Help them to see that at the very least, they were given a Precious Gift when you sent your Son Jesus!

In Your Mighty Name we ask, AMEN!

© Jounda LaMance November 13, 2006

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