Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” Colossians 4:2
It was one of the most epic trips of a lifetime…there’s NO WAY they would ever forget this!Scriptures said there were 600,000 fighting men…some estimate up that to mean. Up to 2.5 Million people total…but a LARGE group of Israelites crossed through the Jordan River, on dry land! They had heard the stories of their ancestors going through the Red Sea on dry land…but now they were staring at the Jordan River at FLOOD STAGE! They saw the Priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, and as they got closer to the raging river, they did not stop. They heard all the rumbling of the people and the animals and Mommas holding babies…and I’m sure they wondered, “How are we going to get through THAT?!” But God made a way! When the sandals of the Priests touched the water, THEN the Jordan stopped flowing. Some experts guess that it could have taken 20-30 DAYS to cross the Jordan-with that many people, animals, and supplies! There’s no possible way they would FORGET what they saw there!
It’s what happens AFTER that trip that caught my eye this week! Joshua calls the people together and tells them to pick one man from each of the 12 Tribes to go back out into that riverbed and get a large stone. So, they took a dozen boulders from the middle of the Jordan Basin…and carried them to the shore where they were camping that night. He also took 12 stones from the land and put them in the MIDDLE of the Jordan River where the Priests stood holding the Ark of the Covenant. Two piles of stones…for one purpose…TO REMEMBER!
That seemed a little funny to me…why would I need some rock pile to remind me of this trip?? That was MONUMENTAL! There’s no WAY I will ever forget this day! I tend to get a little “judgy” of the Israelites, until I stop & I breathe, and look in the mirror. And a wave of embarrassment washes over me!
How many times have I FORGOTTEN all the Lord has done for me??? We have prayer requests each week…but do I remember ALL that He has answered? We see bad weather all over the nation…but do I forget all the storms that HAVEN’T hit our home? I whine about gas prices and difficulties in our country…but have I praised God for how many wars have NOT been fought in Portales? I’m so quick to gripe at the Israelites, but not so inspired to look in the mirror, sadly!
Joshua told the people that when your kids ask what these stones are for…you TELL them all the Lord has done! “He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s Hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God FOREVER!” (Joshua 4:24)
We spent the first 31 days of this month focused on PRAYER. We are sending out Prayer Prompts every Monday morning. We have Prayer Furnace LIVE on Thursdays to lift people up during the week. But am I STOPPING all I’m doing and taking time to THANK HIM for all He has ALREADY done in my life?? If we don’t ACTIVELY remember all God has done for us…we might end up like those Israelites that wandered…and how they forgot His Faithfulness.
Take time RIGHT NOW to list all the ways He HAS come through for you! Our God is FOR YOU! He is on YOUR SIDE! And His Faithfulness endures forever! May we all have an alert mind and a thankful heart!
Shalom, Don
